Following last week’s coffee giveaway for anyone using their own refillable mug, Starbucks is making a push to remind people you can get $.10 off any brewed beverage at any of their stores by using your reusable travel mug.

The company, which has actually been offering discounts on drinks for travel mug users since 1985, says it’s all part of their plan to drastically cut down on material waste:

Our goal is to serve 25% of the beverages made in our stores in reusable serveware or tumblers by 2015. In 2009 customers brought their own tumblersinto our stores more than 26 million times. Although serveware and tumbler use accounted for only 1.5 percent of total beverages served last year, this simple shift in behavior kept nearly 1.2 million pounds of paper out of landfills.

Starbucks has come under fire in recent weeks after shareholders in the company voted against ramping up its recycling program.

“One of the most significant challenges Starbucks faces is a variance in local recycling capabilities,” explained Starbucks in a Global Responsibility Report released yesterday. “This inconsistency makes it difficult for a company like ours, with more than 16,000 retail locations around the globe, to efficiently and effectively implement a recycling strategy.”

Regardless, you can save some trees and save a little bit of cash by using your own mug.

Of course, you could save even more by making cheaper (some would say better) coffee at home…

Starbucks, struggling to recycle, discounts drinks in tumblers [USA Today]

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