'Atta Boy Tully!

A mere 25 days after publishing an op-ed in the Seattle P-I suggesting that composting containers be placed in coffee shops, I wandered into the Tully's in Two Union. It was early and I had just got off a red-eye flight from Honolulu so I was a little grumpy. I looked over at a patron's cup and noticed something like "eco-cup, please compost me" written on the side. "Ha!" I said to myself. "They expect everyone to haul these paper cups home and throw them in their yard waste containers, the bastards." But then, I saw it: it looked like a trash can but it was green. I read the text and it said compost. Tully's coffee, out of Seattle, takes a step toward common sense.

I tried to find a market share comparison between Tully's and Starbucks but had no luck. I did, however, find that there are 37 Tully's shops here in Seattle, compared to 102 Starbucks locations. There are 132 Tully's stores nationwide compared to 8,800 Starbucks (as of an October 2006 report on msnbc.com). I applaud Tully's for having the guts and foresight to step out in front, but given the fact that Starbucks has AT LEAST 86 stores for each Tully's locale, the direct impact is going to be neglible. And, based on the 8:30 AM lines at each store near my office, I'd have to say the line at Starbucks shows the gap is even wider.

In the spirit of attempting to do what's right, even if the impact is small, I suggest you try Tully's. It's easily as good, and probably better, than Starbucks and they have a little more vision.

Or you could always just get a travel mug...