A travel mug in the hand is worth ... nothing if you don't use it

Saving the earth is hard work.

My original inspiration for starting this blog was my desire to share the funny things that happened as I attempted to help the environment. In that vein, I present to you my latest gaffe.

I've been trying to not use paper cups when I buy coffee since they aren't recyclable. And in the last year I've made good progress. I used to take my own cup when I bought coffee from the Coffee Bean downstairs from work. And recently I came up with a better system and brought a travel mug to work, so I can order my to-go coffee in a container with a lid. But mainly I try to not buy coffee too often and instead make it at home. I've cut back on my Saturday morning ritual and now just buy coffee whenever I feel like I need it. This morning was one of those days. I had to leave extra time this morning for voting in California's special election (which is another gripe entirely) so I figured I'd buy coffee at the local coffee shop around the corner from my polling place. And I actually remembered to grab a travel mug from my cupboard. Aww, so proud of myself!

What happened next is mostly a blur. I entered an empty polling place, took 10 seconds to vote, was told afterward that I could get free coffee with my "I voted" sticker, grabbed my travel mug from my car and was on my way. Free coffee and no waste. Score! OK, not so much.

In line I got distracted eavesdropping on the kids in front of me talking about an funnily inappropriate song on YouTube using the word f** (but impressed that the kid ordering hot chocolate -- a middle school boy at that -- said "I can understand why gay people don't like that song"), then I completely forgot ... where I was going with this sentence. Just joking, but seriously, that's what happened to my memory. During the two minutes I stood in line, I forgot I was holding my travel mug and ordered my coffee without handing over my mug. I walked away from the counter happy that I didn't have to pull out my wallet. But when I had to put my travel mug down to put milk and sugar in my *** nonrecyclable *** paper cup, well, that's when it hit me. I sheepishly walked out doublefisted -- hot coffee in one hand, empty container in the other. This is where good intentions go to die. I had good intentions by voting, I had good intentions by bringing my mug, I just couldn't quite make it happen. No one said saving the earth was easy, so I'll leave it to the Prius-driving, bus takers of the world. In the meantime, I put my coffee in my cup holder and drove 30 miles to work. I'm blaming Schwarzenegger for the whole thing.