The “Roll Up the Rim” contest at Tim Horton’s has come under fire from the Toronto Environmental Alliance.

The alliance said the contest forces customers to use single-use coffee cups, even when refillable mugs are available.

“It shows a lack of imagination and a failure to truly walk the walk when it comes to the environment,” Franz Hartmann, executive director of the Toronto Environmental Alliance, said.

The alliance wants the coffee giant to promote refillable mugs or find another alternative.

“We sent people to the moon and back so it’s not rocket science. There’s got to be an easier way,” Hartmann argued.

At Western, EnviroWestern has often criticized the coffee retailer for waste caused by its coffee cups.

The Western community trashes over one million coffee cups per year, according to EnviroWestern co-ordinator Holly Stover. This makes up about five per cent of the total garbage on campus.

These numbers didn’t surprise Hartmann.

“I think it’s fairly typical of most campuses,” he said. “As it is, they give out single-use cups like it’s going out of style.”

— Stuart A. Thompson