SocialYell > Starbucks > Topic





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Money Waste




  • more than consumer

  • So I was surprised to see Starbucks in the consumer advocacy category and I've thus expanded it to Social Equity. I believe what people should value in Starbucks is their efforts in fair-trade coffee farming, building a network and education to protect and invest in their sourcing. http://www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/index.cfm I think we're coming to an age where it's not just about what's in it for me, but are they doing for others around me.
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  • general responsibility efforts

  • Starbucks has done a great job on their web site featuring their responsibility goals: http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/learn-more/goals-and-progress/recycling. They have some pretty bold benchmarks - 50% renewable energy sourcing by the end of this year, while at the end of 2009 it was only 25%. Where I see major shortcomings, however, are in their commitment to LEED buildings (only retrofitting 10 'pilot stores' worldwide, out of over 15000!), and they're recycling efforts. Not that I see them encouraging everyone to bring reusable thermoses for their coffee, but for a chain that distributes billions of paper cups a year, they could really be using this aspect to highlight corporate innovation in environmental friendliness. We all know that putting recycling bins in their store won't solve everything.



  • recycling

  • They've stated on their site that they're going to develop a 'comprehensive recyclable cup solution' by 2012.... I don't know what that means, but I think our culture just has to change the way it thinks about its food containers and wrapping. People just aren't going to recycle everything 100% the time, even if the recycling bin is closer than the trash, whether it be out of laziness or ignorance. For example, despite all the recycling boxes, programs, and bins in the world, only a tiny fraction of plastic bottles get recycled. The need to continually create more containers because the ones we use are disposable creates an entirely separate set of waste. The entire system needs to be revolutionized.
  • What do you think? join the conversation or reply to the original topic here "more than consumer"