Roll up the rim

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, March 17, 2007

Tim Hortons contest a litterbug

Rolling up the rim of your morning cuppa might win you an SUV, but critics say it is the environment that loses.

Tim Hortons customers across Canada began peeling back the lips of their coffee cups yesterday as the fast-food giant rolled out its annual Roll Up the Rim to Win contest.

But some environmentalists say what has become a beloved Canadian ritual since its introduction in 1986 promotes waste and propagates littering.

“People buy more cups of coffee and if they don’t win, they’ll just toss it,” said Don Dick, Alberta director of Pitch In Canada, a national non-profit organization concerned about the proliferation of packaging and its effects on the landscape.

“If they want people to buy their product, there’s better ways to go about it. [The cup] doesn’t melt down or disappear into our environment when it’s tossed away. I just fills up our garbage more and it also eats up our paper to make it.”

Mr. Dick suggests the company should turn to small scratch cards instead of using treated paper cups for the promotion and launch more customer-awareness campaigns. (Source: GPI Atlantic) 

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Another one of my occasional society lifestyle rants. This one’s on those discarded roll up the rim cups you see all over the place in any urban space. It seems as though it’s a national issue according to this CBC Nova Scotia news clip I found. I’m not alone in my disgust it seems.

Here’s a shocking display of a pile of cups collected in one day at the University of Western Ontario.

Here’s an article about someone who at least used the losing cups to create art. Be sure to check out the photos. Can’t you just imagine that dried horton’s coffee smell?

It seems as though Tim Horton’s is concerned. At least they were 2 years ago.

* * * UPDATE March 15, 2008 * * *

FEEDBACK

Re: Editorial cartoon (March 15)

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when melting snow discloses just how many Tim Hortons cups have been tossed on the ground over the winter.

What a shame that so many people treat their city this way.

Don’t they realize that, in Hamilton, the cups, serviettes, food remains and tea bags belong in the green cart and the No. 6 plastic lids belong in the blue box for containers?

– Mary Lou Dickson (March 18, 2008)

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I am SO disappointed in this roll up rim bull, that I’ve boycotted Tim’s from my daily lunch at work. The only thing is I work night shift and Tims is the only place open! So now I’m anorexic. ROLL UP THE RIM MADE ME ANOREXIC!

I rolled over 12 cups and didn’t win anything, (1 in 9 chance my foot!) so I emailed Tim’s and they comforted me with “thanks for your letter, keep on rolling, good luck” ! >:( How Rude.

– A (April 19, 2008)