In praise of Michael Gove and his reusable cup

I’m drinking coffee as a write this. That’s not unusual. I drink a lot of coffee, much of it bought from the Pret a Manger that is almost dangerously close to my office in Westminster. (I judge my days by how many meals I eat from that Pret: often two and sometimes three. My life is awesome.)

What is unusual is that the coffee isn’t in a paper cup. It’s in a mug, an ordinary ceramic mug, which I put in my pocket and took to Pret. I handed it over to be filled up and instead of paying the 99p Pret normally asks for a filter coffee (tip for fans of what a dear colleague used to call ‘ghetto latte’: ask for hot milk) I was charged 49p. Then I walked back to my office with my mug. Why am I bothering you with the mundane details of think-tank life? Because I think there’s something here that people who do politics and policy can learn from.

Why did I take my mug instead of just buying yet another paper cup on caffeine-fix autopilot as I have (too) many times before? I wish I could say it was the 50p discount alone, but in truth I’ve been dimly aware of that discount for all the time I’ve been channelling a large portion of my disposable income to Pret. Yet I’ve never bothered to take a mug or buy one of those funny plastic keep-cups.