I love Starbucks. I love walking in and grabbing a cup of coffee or a tea and running to class, and I also love sitting there all day and studying my brains out the day before an exam (not so much the studying but the coffee smell and comfy chairs). The employees make you feel welcomed and the environment is always comfortable. Their products are high quality and taste awesome. Now I have one more reason to love Starbucks, and that because of their green unity cups. I usually don’t care about the cup color, in fact the big debate over the red cups last year annoyed the hell out of me, but this year they mean something important. The cups have a drawing of a lot of faces that are drawn with a single line to symbolize that we are all connected.

Starbucks released these cups at a time where our country seems to be even more divided than usual, and that was a bold move. They have the perfect platform to reach tons of people and they used it for good, that’s not something you usually see in massive companies. They could’ve simply released the red holiday cups everyone goes nuts over, but instead of playing it safe they are trying to make a point. According to their website, they sell 4 million drinks per day, that is a ton of people holding that cup and thinking to themselves “why is this green instead of red, and why are these faces all connected?” If you just start your day with that simple thought, that we are all connected in some way, it can change how you address people.

I am beyond exhausted of seeing harsh comments and heated debates in Facebook comments, and watching people tear each other down just because they have differing opinions. Not that a cup design is going to be the big change the country needs, but it could start a spark a thought or conversation, and that is how big things start to happen. So next time you see the green cup, or a discussion about it, know that this isn't something to roll your eyes at, it's a great idea. Their CEO, Howard Schultz wrote a letter of encouragement to all of his US employees on November 6 that has since been published on the Starbucks website that shows the values of the company. He speaks on the fact that we need to find more kindness and compassion within ourselves, and encourages everyone to be a positive light in their communities. This is such an important point because although politics may seem out of control, we can make a difference in our towns and on our campuses just with small acts of kindness.