I was in Starbucks not too long ago to get a(nother) hazelnut macchiato. At this point you might be thinking that I am a huge Starbucks drinker.

The truth is, I'm not.

I'm just addicted to this hazelnut macchiato right now.

But while I was there, I saw these reusable hot coffee cups.

And I figured, if I'm going to be be constantly drinking hazelnut macchiatos, I can at least be kind to the environment.

First, let's address the line between Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts.

Given the choice, I'd probably go Dunkin' french vanilla, or iced dark roast, over anything from Starbucks. (Even the hazelnut macchiato.)

Starbucks is a dessert drink. It's an afternoon pick-me-up type drink, not a first-thing-in-the-morning drink for me. Dunkin' is for long car trips. Starbucks is for sitting around the house on a lazy afternoon.

Such was the case Friday evening - after a long week, needing a bit of a kick to make it through the Friday night basketball games...it was the perfect recipe for a hazelnut macchiato from Starbucks.

And it was the first opportunity to use the reusable cup.

It cost just a dollar - I bought it last weekend on one of my hazelnut macchiato runs. It's not like that dollar investment is saving us money. Using the cup gets you 10 cents off the coffee purchase - you'd need to get 10 cups of coffee just to get your money back on the cup...there's no way it lasts for 400 cups of coffee to earn you a free cup of coffee. (It's a thin cup too - I wonder if it even lasts 10 uses.)

So it's definitely a purchase made to have an environmental impact...not an economic one.

Another problem - with iced coffee season fast approaching (I think...who knows really with the weather we've been having), it's not a cup from which I would drink an iced coffee (or hazelnut macchiato, as the case may be). The only reusable iced coffee cup they sell at Starbucks runs about $10...though the counter lady (barista?..also, I engaged her in conversation - that, too, is a New Thing!) says they're probably going to put out a similarly cheap reusable iced coffee cup.

The biggest problem right now is that on Friday evening my wife went to Starbucks with the cups to get the coffees. So I'm not even sure how to do the reusable cup thing. Do I have to approach the counter holding the cups high (chest-level maybe?) so they see them? Do I have to declare I have them when I walk in the door so they don't think I picked them off the counter then and there? And what do I say when it's time to order?

I'm thinking, "2 hazelnut macchiatos. And put it in them there cups. Please."