Friday, February 12, 2016

Lent & RUTR



Do you recall me writing many moons ago about what is probably the urban myth that Tim Horton's began Roll Up The Rim to counteract Lent? The story goes that coffee consumption dropped as people fasted in this season of the church year so Tim's created this incentive to feast rather than fast.

While it's unlikely that this was the reason for RUTR, I do notice that it began this year just a short time before Ash Wednesday and extends through to the beginning of the Palm Sunday weekend. Let the conspiracy theories continue!

There is a online petition asking Tim Horton's to give a break to those who conscientiously bring their reusable mugs for their coffee. At the moment you have to buy a disposable paper cup, and because those cups are lined with plastic they aren't recycled in many municipalities, even though we may put them in recycling bins. I am inundated with earnest petitions on all manner of topics, but I like this one. The suggestion is scratch tickets or attachable pull tabs for those who are choosing to reduce waste with their mugs. Here is the Toronto Star article which notes that more than 16,000 have signed the petition so far. http://www.thestar.com/business/2016/02/11/tim-hortons-customers-want-to-roll-up-the-rim-without-the-paper-cup.html

What do you think about the RUTR Lenten temptation theory? Do you like the notion of a RUTR option for those who use their own coffee cups?

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