The Real Reason Dunkin' Changed Its Coffee Cups

Caffeinated environmentalists can finally rejoice. The popular donut-and-coffee-wielding chain Dunkin' is officially committed to ditching the styrofoam coffee cups for double-walled paper ones. The company has long sought a solution to this problem, and this change marks the achievement of a goal the company set for itself in 2018 (via Today).

"Finding a replacement for our foam cup has been our No. 1 sustainability issue for many years, but finding the right cup has been a challenge from a supply, cost, and guest experience perspective," said Scott Murphy, COO of Dunkin'. "Our priority has been finding a more sustainable cup that offers the best drinking experience for our guests, and we believe we have done that with the double-walled paper cup, which uses the lid also used on our current cups."

While some states like California and New York saw the changes earlier this year, all Dunkin' locations have now adopted the new practice. Though there are still some styrofoam cups floating around at some locations, no new styrofoam cups will be shipped out to stores. So, if you see or receive the occasional styrofoam coffee cup, don't sweat it — it's just the end of the existing supply (via Delish).

A lot of people are already familiar with just how bad styrofoam is for the environment. It tends to take an incredibly long time to decompose and cannot be recycled. The new paper cups feature two paper walls to keep the coffee hot while preventing your hand from burning. It's certainly a welcome change, and one that will eliminate 1 billion styrofoam cups from landfills each year.

The last step Dunkin' has to take in order for its coffee cups to become completely recyclable is replacing the lids. The coffee cup lids are not currently recyclable, but the company is on track to have all locations switch over the new ones that are. The final change should be enacted in all locations by the end of this summer.

So whether you were a fan of Dunkin' before now or not, this change is certainly a reason for everyone to celebrate with a hot drink.