A cup of Starbucks coffee sits on a table in a cafe in central Hong Kong
The Seattle-based coffee giant introduced the plastic tumblers that resemble its standard paper cups to stores across the U.S. and Canada Thursday. REUTERS

Starbucks said on Thursday it aims to become more eco-friendly by introducing a reusable cup that will sell for $1.

The Seattle-based coffee giant introduced the plastic tumblers that resemble its standard paper cups to stores across the U.S. and Canada, in order to encourage customers to refill instead of always throwing away paper cups, USA Today reported.

In addition, customers who use the cups will receive a 10-cent discount on drinks, which the newspaper noted allows the cup to pay for itself in 10 uses.

Starbucks is pushing out the idea following criticism that their disposable cups and containers too often end up in landfills or as litter on streets and waterways.

Starbucks’ Director of Environmental Impact Jim Hanna said the company is working hard to reduce its impact on the environment. Along with the tumblers, the company said it is working with paper mills to ensure more disposable cups are recycled. It’s disposable cups and containers are already made of recyclable material.

Hanna noted that Starbucks’ test market of 600 stores in the Pacific Northwest showed that the inexpensive cups boosted consumers' use of reusable cups by 26 percent in those stores last November.

"It's not a burden for people to buy two or three," he told USA Today, adding that baristas will clean the tumblers in boiling water before each refill.

The company, also known for its merchandise already sells reusable cups, although their other selections are a lot more expensive.

Skeptics suggested that human behavior may negate the idealistic concept of inexpensive reusable cup, which people may often forget to bring and undermine its purpose.