Stanley Trigger Action Travel Mug – a solid, no-spill thermal mug to replace disposable coffee cups and lids for lifetime.
Disposable coffee cups and lids
Coffee is ‘one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world’. Just in 2020/2021, the world has consumed 166.63 million 60 kilogram bags of coffee. That made a 465.9 billion USD global coffee market for the year 2020 alone.
With the ever-increasing consumption of coffee come the ever-expanding piles of coffee cup waste.
Just by Starbucks alone, 6 billion coffee cups are disposed of every year worldwide. And paired with these 6 billion disposable cups are 6 billion disposable lids, countless stir sticks, and innumerable coffee cream pods.
What’s wrong with disposable cups? Well, disposable cups are lined with polyethylene – making it next to impossible to recycle or compost. For one thing, it’s costly to separate polyethylene from paper; for another, it can take hundreds of years for polyethylene to decompose.
What about single-use cup lids, stir sticks, and cream pods? The same dilemma here: they are made of polypropylene or polystyrene #6 – the kinds of plastic that are very costly and difficult to recycle. When the cost of virgin plastic remains low, there is little economic incentive for firms to recycle these plastic wastes.
So, if I can get it straight here, every year in the US we are cutting 20 million trees and using 12 billion gallons of water just so to make disposables such as coffee cups and lids – We are literally exhausting natural resources to mass-produce wastes.
But here is the thing: the mass-produced wastes are not even the problem. The problem is: where do these wastes go?
Apparently, the wastes did not stay where they were supposed to stay. They are coming back, in an overwhelmingly all-penetrating way – microplastics.
Microplastics and Nanoplastics
The term ‘microplastics’ was coined by Richard Thompson, a marine ecologist at the University of Plymouth, UK. He found microplastics – smaller than 5 millimeters across – along British beaches in 2004. Since then scientists have gradually realized that plastics can degrade into microplastics, and microplastics into nanoplastics. Unlike microplastics, nanoplastics are invisible to our eyes. They are smaller than 1 millimeters cross – distinguishable only under optical microscopes and spectrometers.
From plastic wastes to microplastics to nanoplastics, what does this mean to us?
This means plastic wastes are turning into free agents – they can penetrate wherever they flow. They are becoming omnipresent, to say the least.
They are found in deep oceans, in the Arctic, in the Antarctic, in the air, in the rain, in mountains, in rivers, in cities, in wild animals, in seafood, in salt, in drinking water, in personal care products, in baby food ……, and even in human cells and tissues.
We are literally breathing, drinking, and eating microplastics every day – that can be a daily consumption of 100,000 microplastic specks according to Albert Koelmans at the Wageningen University, and that did not even take into account the daily consumption of nanoparticles.
That’s terrible! What can we do then? We cannot scoop them, we can hardly filter them, and we are certainly not able to clear them. Once plastics turn into microplastics and nanoplastics, they are pretty much out of our hands.
Any solutions?
Something has to be done to cut out plastic consumption. We have to slow down the influx of disposable coffee cups and lids because once they are in they will stay.
But we cannot really slow down the influx of coffee cups and lids if the demand remains high. In order to slow down the influx, we have to reverse the market demand for coffee cups and lids.
But why is there a high demand for coffee cups and lids in the first place?
Well, coffee cups and lids are in high demand primarily for two reasons: convenience and hygiene. Consumers don’t want to bring their own cups and they don’t want to share cups with others either. They want convenience and hygiene at no cost – that’s where coffee cups and lids come into play.
But are coffee cups and lids really free? Look around and look inside, at what hefty price are we paying just for one-time convenience and hygiene? And do we really want to continue to pay the heavy price?
Apparently, the demand for convenience and hygiene will not go away, but it doesn’t mean that they can only be delivered via disposable cups and lids.
There are plenty of substitutes out there that can deliver better convenience and hygiene.
And one of the plenty is Stanley’s Trigger Action Travel Mug.
Stanley’s Trigger Action Travel Mug
Stanley Trigger Action Travel Mug is a robust, no-frill thermal coffee mug. It can effectively substitute disposable coffee cups and lids for five reasons:
First, it is easy to carry around.
This mug does not spill, period. People can toss it into packs, place it in a cup holder in a car, or click it into a bicycle cup holder. The mug is sealed. No spill whatsoever no matter how you handle the mug. Completely hassle free.
Can we say the same thing for disposable cups? Not really. Caution is advised as people order coffee on the go: the coffee cups do spill. People need to tiptoe while walking with hot liquid in disposable cups.
But with Stanley mugs? People can jump and run – that’s the monumental difference!
Ever wondered why reusable mugs are not gaining momentum in replacing disposable cups in coffee shops? One thing for sure is these mugs leak. Frankly, most of them do despite the claims they made otherwise. People simply cannot toss them into their packs while running for their errands. These reusable mugs complicate consumers’ life rather than simplify it – no wonder they are not gaining momentum in replacing disposables.
Second, it is easy to use.
The trigger-action lid – that’s what this mug is known for.
No need to twist, pop, or unscrew the lid. Just press the button and enjoy a sip. All in one hand.
If that’s not easy enough, this mug embraces an inherent seal mechanism in safeguarding this one-hand operation. It ensures no spills, no splashes, and no leaks even if the mug flips over or the car screeches to a halt.
This mug can save people’s serenity in the most chaotic encountering. That sense of ease is priceless.
Third, it keeps coffee hot
This may not be a big deal for many who live in warm weather. But for those who live in New York or Boston where winter is the norm, they know a thing or two about walking on the icy street with a cup of coffee.
With Stanley Trigger Action Travel Mug? No problem. Just toss the mug into packs and cross the street in peace. Hands free.
In fact, Stanley is the company that pioneered vacuum insulated thermoses. Their mugs can keep coffee piping hot for at least 5 hours – that’s long enough for people to enjoy a cup of hot java before the day ends.
Fourth, speaking of hygiene
It’s a myth to consider disposable cups as a solution for hygiene.
In 2020, 125 virologists, epidemiologists, and health experts from 18 different countries signed a statement to demystify the role of plastics in pandemics. They noted that single-use plastics are not as hygienic as we think. In fact, viruses can survive the longest on plastics than on other common-used materials.
So what’s the consensus agreed upon by these 125 virologists, epidemiologists, and health experts?
They agree that reusables are a safe substitute for disposables.
Fifth, what about food safety?
Contrary to what people commonly believe, disposable cups are not safe to use.
When their inner layer – the polyethylene – gets in contact with hot liquids, it releases styrene. Styrene is a cancer-causing chemical that can potentially damage vision, hearing, and neurology. People with frequent exposure to styrene suffer a host of health problems such as lack of concentration, loss of memory, depression, headaches, fatigue, and so on and so forth.
That’s alarming.
People order coffee for mental power, but most of them do not realize that what they are getting is a cup of cocktail mixed with styrene.
I always wondered how many people are willing to trade one-time convenience with their lifetime health if they are fully aware of the health hazards of disposable cups.
I bet not many.
Will people be willing to replace disposable cups with reusable ones such as the Stanley Trigger Action Travel Mug, if they are given the option? Absolutely. Why not? This mug is made of premium 18/8 stainless steel – styrene free, chemical free, and BPA free.
As for me, I will be more than willing to take the Stanley Mug with me in whichever coffee shop I visit.
About consumer behavior
So here comes the reality check: It’s a daunting task to change consumer behaviors, especially when these behaviors are embedded within a bigger, interwoven economic system.
‘Daunting’ means something seemingly difficult and intimidating, but it doesn’t mean something impossible.
Momentum for change can indeed build up when more and more consumers do the right thing.
The key is to come up with a substitute solution that is at least ten times better than the existing ones. Make it easy, make it desirable, make it rewarding, and make it a habit – that’s when consumers will change their behaviors, according to Keith Weed in his Harvard Business Review article.
Is that the case for the Stanley Trigger Action Traffic Mug?
Well, let’s find out.
- Is this mug convenient to use? Absolutely. Customers can simply press, sip, and then toss it back into packs.
- Is the mug desirable? Of course. This is a solid, no-spill thermal mug made by Stanley with a lifetime warranty.
- Is the mug rewarding? Well, this mug endows consumers with better health, greater peace of mind, a stronger sense of serenity, and a deeper sense of self-awareness that they are doing something right for something bigger than themselves. What more can one ask for?
- Can it become habitual? Why not? People are subject to social influences. When a few start with reusable mugs, more will follow. Kids are taking reusable mugs to school every day. Why can’t grownups do the same? It’s only a matter of time before the reusables become the norm.
So, do reusables have anything to do with a genuine value proposition?
Absolutely, reusables have everything to do with a genuine value proposition.
One thing for sure is, not every reusable can substitute disposables.
A reusable has to offer a genuine value proposition first and foremost before people can be convicted enough to give up disposables to something better.
In fact, the four criteria proposed by Keith Weed – Being convenient, desirable, rewarding, and habitual – are exactly the traits for a genuine value proposition.
- Being convenient means this value proposition simplifies people’s life.
- Being desirable means this value proposition offers something desirable for people.
- Being rewarding means this value proposition is making positive impacts in people’s life.
- Being habitual means this value proposition offers long-lasting value that people can repeatedly count on it.
Indeed, if there is ever a lever behind consumer behavior change, that would be the genuine value proposition.
Let’s admit it. People are less likely to change their behaviors in response to businesses’ marketing campaigns, socially responsible investments, and zero-waste initiatives.
They can certainly observe these initiatives, but they don’t interact with them. No interaction, no change.
People only interact with value propositions. A genuine value proposition engages people’s values, motivations, perceptions, behaviors, and habits – it gives people a reason, an incentive, and an easy way to change.
That’s why a genuine value proposition IS the lever and the agent for change to occur.
It is through a genuine value proposition that businesses and consumers can finally join hands together in making the world a healthier place to live.