Coffee Shop Controversy
Last month Starbucks came under fire after UK newspaper The Sun exposed a wasteful water practice. At issue are “dipper wells,” tiny sinks that house and clean utensils. These sinks have a constant stream of water which sanitize mixers and stirrers for repeated use.
Green Biz sums up this practice. And according to Enviroblog the collective amount of water is 607,000 gallons every 83 minutes.
In this BBC article Starbucks explains and defends the practice, and says they may consider dishwashers instead of the constant stream dipper wells. But knowing how much water my home dishwasher uses I question if operating a restaurant dishwasher several times a day would actually use LESS water than leaving this small stream of cold water on?
I agree with the assessment that this practice is wasteful. Its especially unnecessary in the afternoon when crowds are light. It would be an excellent move if this practice is ceased, however the solution shouldn’t be a knee-jerk reaction that trades one wasteful practice for another, or simply moves the issue to the back room and out of customers’ sight. The Seattle P.I. says “Starbucks is hastily testing alternatives.” Hastiness is what we DON’T need. I’m glad this issue came to light, but patience should be a virtue in finding the BEST and most environmentally friendly solution.
Since that article came out I’ve been noticing this practice, and its everywhere – and not exclusive to Starbucks either. I snapped the right picture last week at a New York City Starbucks, and the left at my neighborhood Daz Bog at 9th and Downing here in Denver.
We’ll see what transpires with this…
Hey modern dishwashers use *very* little water. Especially the euro brands like Bosch.
My pet peeve WRT starbucks, is the lack of proper cups/glasses when having a drink that isn’t togo. Drinking in a cafe on paper cups, diminishes the experience substantially.
Thanks for the note on dishwashers Christian.
Regarding mugs: I’ve actually noticed that trend myself too. I was actually thinking about this and couldn’t recall if the big chains ever DID have real cups and saucers, or if it was my imagination?
My regular/local indy coffee shops like Under the Umbrella and Java Creek always have a collection of cups, mugs, and saucers – which I prefer.
The past few times I’ve been in Starbucks or Daz Bog and clearly said “for here,” I expected a nice wide rimmed mug – and as you say get the standard to-go cup with sleeve. My local Daz Bog even has a “sleeve recycling bin” for those who drink in – but I agree if staying put why not just use mugs?
All the more reason to support that coffee shops that do use real mugs and utensils.
Just an FYI, this is not just a practice by Starbucks. Every resturaunt has dipper wells and they are required by the Health Department.
As does every ice cream store that serves hand dipped ice cream…
Agreed it is something that needs to be addressed but in a methodical manner.
Aaron