With more and more companies pledging to adopt sustainable practices in the coming years, it’s no surprise that Starbucks is, in a lot of ways, leading the pack. The company has worked to eliminate plastic straws by revamping its cup lids, and over the past 2 years has rolled out a reusable cup program worldwide .
But their promises of reusable products and less waste don’t always translate to baristas making drinks. A TikTok user by the name of Kaspian ( @theekingkaspian ) recently found out that the baristas sometimes throw away cups they use to measure. He then talked about it in a video that ended up going viral.
Check It Out For Yourself!
In the TikTok, Kaspian discusses a recent trip to Starbucks (before stopping to smell a nearby rose). He explains that he uses his reusable cup, and they usually just make the drink in the cup for customers. But on this particular day, the barista poured the drink into a plastic cup before putting it in the reusable cup, throwing the plastic cup out afterward. Kaspian then wondered what the point of the reusable cup program was if they were just going to throw away plastic cups anyway.
The video ended up going viral, gaining over a million views since it was posted a few weeks ago.
Commenters React To The TikTok.

While there were many commenters who had a lot to say about the Starbucks situation, there were plenty who got distracted by pretty much every other part of the TikTok. A bunch of users took to the comments to laugh at the way Kaspian stopped in the middle of his story just to smell a rose. Even more felt the need to take the time to compliment Kaspian on his appearance.
Several Users Who Are/Were Baristas Weighed In.

According to the current and former Starbucks baristas of TikTok, this kind of thing is pretty common. Sometimes their equipment is dirty and they don’t have time to clean it, and other times they end up using a single-use cup without even thinking about it. Kaspian didn’t seem mad about it, though.
More Users Had Explanations As To Why A Barista Might Use A Single-Use Cup.

For others, it could come down to using the measuring lines that aren’t present in a reusable cup. Another user pointed out that, depending on the Starbucks, they might have to follow different rules.