Starbucks Outrages Environmentalists

Filed under: Media, International,Nature & Environment — Eman at 10:22 pm on Friday, October 10, 2008

Although known for its care for the environment and its work to help protect it, environmental experts accused the giant coffee chain Starbucks of pouring millions of litres of precious water down the drain at its coffee shops, or to be more precise, 23.4 million litres of clean water a day, which would provide enough daily water for the entire two million-strong population of drought-hit Namibia in Africa, or fill an Olympic-sized pool every 83 minutes.

Apparently  the chain has a policy of keeping a tap running non-stop at all its 10,000 outlets worldwide, for “hygiene reasons”, a claim that was later dismissed by experts as “nonsense”.

I personally think there is no excuse whatsoever to waste any amount of water, let alone millions of litres per day. There are always environmental-friendly alternatives available to guarantee a healthy clean environment at any coffee shop or restaurant. If the supervisors of this chain , or any other chain for that matter, are clueless on how to keep a balance between protecting the health of their customers and protecting the environment, then I believe they should seek professional help from an environmental expert. In fact, I actually believe that there should be environmental advisors/consultants available for this specific task, as part of any work team of any chain of any kind. 

4 Comments »

Comment by Qwaider قويدر

October 10, 2008 @ 11:21 pm

Well, as long as they manage to find people paying $6 for a cup of “colored” water I guess they’ll find no reason what so ever to stop
Anyway, I’ve seen the same thing being practiced by others as well.

Comment by Hani Obaid

October 11, 2008 @ 9:17 pm

I see where you’re coming from but somehow when there are companies out there building M16s, tomahawk missiles, and B2 bombers, pouring water down the drain doesn’t seem quite so bad.

Comment by Eman

October 15, 2008 @ 4:41 pm

Qwaider, I can’t believe this? so it’s common practice among coffee shops? what a shame!
As for stopping, I guess if experts manage to put some environmental restrictions such as fines or so, then there should be hope!

Hani, thanks for your comment. Bombs are a tool of war and they cause death, and so does the lack of water. Lack of water will soon enough be a justified reason to wage war, and needless to say, no water, no life.
So I personally believe that both types of companies should be focused on, but I can’t ignore wasting water and consider it “acceptable” just because there are worse crimes companies are committing out there.

Comment by Janissary

October 16, 2008 @ 12:31 am

Starbucks is closing 1/3 of their U.S. stores, so a bit less water down the drain. Folks here just aren’t in the mood to pay USD5.00 for a cup of coffee when they can brew their own.

Did I tell you, I obtained an Obama for President yard sign in Hebrew? (I enjoy the same level of mastery of Hebrew, or of Arabic, as do most American Protestants.)

My mortgage is now twice what our house is allegedly worth–share my joy–so I hung the sign outside in hopes that my [deeply stupid, bigoted, ignorant, wretched] neighbors will think it’s Arabic and burn the place down, letting me collect on my homeowner’s fire insurance policy. Sadly, the only attention given it to date has been from the dog next door, twice daily. (Perhaps the neighbors think its Elvish?

I agree with you: climate change and with it lack of water will soon cause us to look back with nostalgia on things like elections and financial crises.

Glad all’s well with you. Looking forward to your email.

Cheers

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