Student’s Corner

No denying it, it’s getting cold up here in Rochester. And while that means all kinds of sad things (think snow, snow, and more snow), the cool weather is also bringing back something beautiful: hot coffee and tea.

Hot beverages are an absolute necessity in Rochester; there is no other way to make the journey from the tunnels to your dorm or to your remote classes on the engineering quad without a warm drink in your hands. But what about all that declining that will soon be funneled into your coffee-and-tea budget? And what about the buildup of all those hot beverage cups that are un-recyclable? Luckily, Dining Team Green (the Dining version of Facilities Team Green) has an answer: the reusable mug program.

The reusable mug program has been around since 2010, but I only recently became aware of it, and I thought I should spread the good news. This program enables you to bring your reusable mug to any dining location and fill it up with coffee or tea for just $1.19. That’s right – only $1.19 for a whole mug full of your favorite hot drink.

So let’s do some math. A grande fresh brewed coffee from Starbucks costs $2.10. If you go to Starbucks every day from the end of Fall Break (October 7^th) to the end of first semester finals (December 20^th), that’s 75 coffees, or $157.50. If you were to use the reusable mug program instead, you would only spend $89.25 – that’s a savings of $68.25 in less than three months. Assuming you continue your Starbucks habit from the beginning of second semester to when it gets warm on April 1^st (if only), you would save another $72.80. That’s a savings of $141.05, and let’s be realistic, most coffee addicts would be consuming more coffee than this modest calculation is assuming.

And what if you’re a tea person? A grande Teavana tea is $2.25. Assuming you tea enthusiasts out there are getting one grande tea on all of the days mentioned above, you would spend $348.75. If you were to use a reusable mug instead, you would spend only $184.45, and would save $164.30.

That’s a lot of money that can now be put to better use on pizza rolls from Hillside – and it’s also a lot of coffee cups being kept out of the trash.

Written by Ciara McGillivray, Class of 2018