As a follow up to yesterday's announcement regarding Starbucks's new rewards card made with wood from sustainably managed forests, I have to say ... at least they're not plastic.

I don't think wood Starbucks cards are the best use of this resource as writing about Starbucks cards isn't the best use of my time, probably. But do you have any idea how many of those little plastic cards end up in landfills every year? Me either but I bet it's a lot.

I returned one once. I don't remember why. It could be I got it as a gift and after I used it up I had no use for it so I asked if Starbucks could recycle it. What I wondered was if they could sell it again to someone else. (They can be reloaded, so why not?)

Nope.

And consider this: A few weeks ago, they offered a promotion promising $5 on your rewards card if you bought a pound of coffee. I already have a Starbucks card so when I purchased my coffee, I asked if they would just load the $5 onto my existing card.

Nope. I had to get a new card.

So after I got my new card, I asked if they could transfer my gift of $5 from my new card to my aforementioned already existing card.

No problem.

They transferred the amount and threw the new card away.

They should just hand out cash. At least that's recyclable.