October 6, 2008

The Folks Behind Starbucks are a Bunch of Drips!

One of my few vices is that I drink Starbucks drinks. (wince) I am in the process of giving them up for many reasons, personal, ethical and financial, and when I came across the following information, I was appalled to say the least. It has catapulted my boycott into orbit. According to The Sun, Starbucks locations "waste 23.4 million liters of water EVERY DAY!" Yes, you heard me.

Starbucks has a policy of keeping water streaming continuously on the preparation utensils in their 'dipper wells' used by their baristas in drink preparation, and this amount of running water has added up to grotesque amounts of waste. To give a little perspective, 23.4 million liters of water:

"...would provide enough daily water for the entire two million-strong population of drought-hit Namibia in Africa or fill an Olympic pool every 83 minutes."

!!! (is all I can say here)

I have seen these dipper wells before, while waiting for my triple no foam light whip no frap half caf, ez decaf concoctions to be whipped up, and I presumed the water was somehow being cycled or recycled... not being sent directly down the drain! But apparently, the taps must run continuous, fresh water to prevent germs and meet health and safety standards. The water is NOT recycled! Investigators even found that the endless running water sometimes served no purpose as there were no utensils present or being cleaned in the drip wells.

When people are dying all over the world from not having clean drinking water, and lands are in severe drought crises, something must be done to stop this waste.

I'm hoping now that they have been called out on this outrageous practice, the powers that be at Starbucks will change their ways! But now, my Starbucks days are over.

3 comments:

Allie said...

Wow! That's really awful! There has to be another health dept. approved way to handle that situation.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's an eye opener!
I got hooked a while back when I mystery shopped there but now I have given it up because of the cost and the effects of drinking it (Calories and Caffiene).
Thanks for sharing!
~The Bargain Shopper Lady

Jill said...

I too have been trying to kick the "addiction" of Starbucks. My husband bought me a pretty good espresso maker a couple years ago and I was sure that I would never need to set foot in Starbucks again. In fact, it has greatly reduced my frequency of visits, but there is something about the hot, frothy experience of Starbucks. They are ingenious at Starbucks to get so many people hooked on more than the coffee. With the economy the way it is I decided that it was time to cut it out once and for all. I hate throwing the cups away. I hate the fact that I can't get my latte with organic beans...on and on.

Thank you for pointing out one more thing about Starbucks that we need to know in order to make change. I don't think that Starbucks is the devil, and many people make their living there. I just think that we need to make these companies change in order to keep our business. Thank you for spreading the word.