The niche market in Sweden: travel mugs

This afternoon, having already visited the local farmers market and grocery store to stock up on all the goodies for a Canadian Thanksgiving in Sweden, I decided to treat myself to a weekend latte. At $4-5 a hit, lattes are certainly a "treat" in grad student life. Given that it was already 1:30, and I hadn't yet cracked my books, I thought I'd bring my caffeine fix to the library with me. In my favourite little Italian coffee shop while waiting in line, the gentleman in front of me looked at my travel mug with shock and awe. "Are you going to get your coffee in that?" "Uh-huh" (why waste a disposable cup when my Starbucks mug is totally spill-proof?). "Have you ever done that before here?" "Well no, not here, but I'm sure they can handle it..."

The guy couldn't stop grinning, he thought this was fascinating! I should have shown him my helmet and Nalgene (BPA-free) water bottle, he probably would have lost his mind. For all of it's forward thinking and great environmental policies, the culture in Sweden is green, but not too green (Lagom?). I don't think I've seen a travel mug for sale since I've been here and outside of my Canadian/enviro-friends, I don't think I've seen any in use. To add insult to injury, because travel mugs have yet to become the new skinny jeans (can those please go out of style already? PLEASE?!), sometimes your coffee is actually more expensive if you bring your own mug.

Come on Sweden, you charge enough in tax, I'd like my 10 cent discount for not killing the planet....