In October, M’s Portland employees were issued a challenge: reduce paper cup usage by 75% for the month. In 2018, M Portland used nearly 23,000 paper cups, or about 2,000 cups per month. The goal of the Kill the Cup Challenge was to use fewer than 500 cups in October 2019.
The result? The M Team stepped up and far surpassed our goal, using only 77 paper cups in October, a 96% reduction! We celebrated the team’s success with a hosted coffee cart – with beverages served in reusable mugs, of course.
Many thanks to our carriers John Hancock, Pacific Life, Prudential, Symetra, and Unum for generously contributing to our mug collection, and to our colleagues who brought their own mugs and extras for the team.
While this challenge is over, our commitment to limiting paper cup usage continues. Stay tuned for new challenges as we set our sights on more opportunities to reduce waste.
