Starbucks: a place where people go daily to get coffee or pastries. As a college student, I go to Starbucks at least once a week. I have a very hectic schedule so getting small boost of energy is a must to keep me going. Millions of people use Starbucks daily, but how are they trying to protect the environment. With the use of many paper cups daily, is Starbucks doing anything to help our environment such as recycling.
After reading about Starbucks, I was kind of disappointed in their efforts of going green. While their intentions seem well, I do not think that their goals are very realistic.
Each year Starbucks sells 3,000,000,000 cups of coffee. While that may be good money for their business, it could potentially be bad for our environment. That is three billion paper cups. If you ask me, that is a lot of paper that should be recycled. In 1985, Starbucks started to offer discounts in help to protect the environment. Each time a customer brings in a reusable mug, they would receive a 10% discount. According to the Starbucks website, “Although we served 6.4 million more beverages in reusable cups in 2010 than 2009, we will need considerable innovation and customer engagement to reach our 2015 goal.” The Starbucks 2015 goal is to have all of Starbucks cups that are reusable. In my opinion, I think that is a good goal, but not realistic. While I may be wanting to go green, not every person that walks through the doors of Starbucks agree with this. Another thing that Starbucks is trying is setting out recycle bins, just for your coffee cups in the stores. While that sounds like a good idea, lets be realistic. Most people that go into Starbucks are in a hurry and get their coffee and go. The only time the customer will see the recycle bins is while he or she is running out of the door to their next destination. The bins would be good for customers who stayed in the coffee shop, but from my experience most people are getting their coffee to go.
While Starbucks may not have all of the kinks out yet, what they are trying to do is help the environment. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Starbucks is ranked number four in the the top 50 companies going green. “We applaud Starbucks’ leadership in green power purchasing,” said Rick Albright, Director of EPA’s Office of Air, Waste & Toxics in Seattle. “Their actions are helping to protect air quality, green our power supply and create renewable energy jobs.”
I applaud Starbucks for trying to help to their part, but I do not see their methods advertised a lot, nor do I see reusable mugs being used more than paper cups. I think that to help Starbucks reach their goal, they should advertise their recycle bins more.
Below is a video about Starbucks using reusable mugs.
Each year Starbucks sells 3,000,000,000 cups of coffee. While that may be good money for their business, it could potentially be bad for our environment. That is three billion paper cups. If you ask me, that is a lot of paper that should be recycled. In 1985, Starbucks started to offer discounts in help to protect the environment. Each time a customer brings in a reusable mug, they would receive a 10% discount. According to the Starbucks website, “Although we served 6.4 million more beverages in reusable cups in 2010 than 2009, we will need considerable innovation and customer engagement to reach our 2015 goal.” The Starbucks 2015 goal is to have all of Starbucks cups that are reusable. In my opinion, I think that is a good goal, but not realistic. While I may be wanting to go green, not every person that walks through the doors of Starbucks agree with this. Another thing that Starbucks is trying is setting out recycle bins, just for your coffee cups in the stores. While that sounds like a good idea, lets be realistic. Most people that go into Starbucks are in a hurry and get their coffee and go. The only time the customer will see the recycle bins is while he or she is running out of the door to their next destination. The bins would be good for customers who stayed in the coffee shop, but from my experience most people are getting their coffee to go.
While Starbucks may not have all of the kinks out yet, what they are trying to do is help the environment. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Starbucks is ranked number four in the the top 50 companies going green. “We applaud Starbucks’ leadership in green power purchasing,” said Rick Albright, Director of EPA’s Office of Air, Waste & Toxics in Seattle. “Their actions are helping to protect air quality, green our power supply and create renewable energy jobs.”
I applaud Starbucks for trying to help to their part, but I do not see their methods advertised a lot, nor do I see reusable mugs being used more than paper cups. I think that to help Starbucks reach their goal, they should advertise their recycle bins more.
Below is a video about Starbucks using reusable mugs.
http://www.go-green.ae/greenstory_view.php?storyid=1350
http://www.starbucks.com/thebigpicture
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-1531/Starbucks-Going-Green.html
http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/learn-more/goals-and-progress/recycling
Dear Marleigh,
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I agree with everything you said and posted about Starbucks. It seems like their goals are not realistic, and will take way longer then they think to reach them. Resuable mugs may be a good idea, but sometimes when I go to Starbucks, it is out of the blue and I may not have my resuable mug with me. That is the only problem I have with Starbucks trying to use those.
"Although we served 6.4 million more beverages in reusable cups in 2010 than 2009, we will need considerable innovation and customer engagement to reach our 2015 goal.” This quote really stood out to me because they are trying their best to reach the goals they want too, and you never know, they might be able to if costumers engage in it. To us their goals may be unrealistic, but you never know, they might have something up their sleeve to actually be able to reach it in 2015.
Thank you for writing this article! It was very fun to read, maybe becuase I LOVE Starbucks. And it was also very interesting. All your posts are about interesting topics, so I will definitely be back to read more!