Change Starbucks water wasting policy

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Starbucks Criticized For Water-Wasting Kitchen Policies

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October 6, 2008 1:10 p.m. EST

AHN Staff

London, England (AHN) - Environmentalists criticized U.S. coffee chain Starbucks for wasting millions of gallons of water by keeping its taps constantly flowing to maintain cleanliness in its 10,000 stores worldwide.

According to British paper The Sun, up to 6.18 million gallons (23.4 million liters) of water are wasted by Starbucks, which would be sufficient to provide the water requirements of Namibia's 2 million population or fill an Olympic-size pool every 83 minutes.

Each Starbucks outlet has a cold faucet behind the counter always open. Its flow is collected into a sink called the dipper well used for washing utensils. The firm's health and safety regulations prohibit shutting off the water because of its belief that a continuous flow of water stops germ from breeding in taps.

The Sun estimated that with Starbucks' 698 branches in Britain, if each stores opens its faucet 13 hours daily, at 3.17 quarts (three liters) of water a minute, Starbucks' total water waste in U.K. alone would reach 430,000 gallons (1.63 million liters) every 24 hours.

The water-wasting policy was discovered by Lisa Woolfe of Hertfordshire, who complained to Starbucks about the open water tap in their place. A letter from Starbucks' head office explained it was a store policy and the water was not recycled.

Peter Robinson of Waste Watch, told the Guardian Unlimited, "Leaving taps running all day is a shocking waste of precious water. And to claim you are doing it for health and safety reason is bonkers."

A Starbucks spokeswoman defended the company's policy as complying with World Health Organization, U.S. and EU environmental benchmarks. "Starbucks' challenge is to balance water conservation with the need for customer safety... The dipper well system currently in use in Starbucks retail stores ensures that we meet or exceed our own and local health standards," the spokeswoman said.

Because of the criticisms, the spokeswoman said Starbucks is now considering the use of dishwashers instead of dipper wells, and trying more water-efficient methods of cleaning utensils.

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Starbucks Criticized For Water-Wasting Kitchen Policies

ShareThis

October 6, 2008 1:10 p.m. EST

AHN Staff

London, England (AHN) - Environmentalists criticized U.S. coffee chain Starbucks for wasting millions of gallons of water by keeping its taps constantly flowing to maintain cleanliness in its 10,000 stores worldwide.

According to British paper The Sun, up to 6.18 million gallons (23.4 million liters) of water are wasted by Starbucks, which would be sufficient to provide the water requirements of Namibia's 2 million population or fill an Olympic-size pool every 83 minutes.

Each Starbucks outlet has a cold faucet behind the counter always open. Its flow is collected into a sink called the dipper well used for washing utensils. The firm's health and safety regulations prohibit shutting off the water because of its belief that a continuous flow of water stops germ from breeding in taps.

The Sun estimated that with Starbucks' 698 branches in Britain, if each stores opens its faucet 13 hours daily, at 3.17 quarts (three liters) of water a minute, Starbucks' total water waste in U.K. alone would reach 430,000 gallons (1.63 million liters) every 24 hours.

The water-wasting policy was discovered by Lisa Woolfe of Hertfordshire, who complained to Starbucks about the open water tap in their place. A letter from Starbucks' head office explained it was a store policy and the water was not recycled.

Peter Robinson of Waste Watch, told the Guardian Unlimited, "Leaving taps running all day is a shocking waste of precious water. And to claim you are doing it for health and safety reason is bonkers."

A Starbucks spokeswoman defended the company's policy as complying with World Health Organization, U.S. and EU environmental benchmarks. "Starbucks' challenge is to balance water conservation with the need for customer safety... The dipper well system currently in use in Starbucks retail stores ensures that we meet or exceed our own and local health standards," the spokeswoman said.

Because of the criticisms, the spokeswoman said Starbucks is now considering the use of dishwashers instead of dipper wells, and trying more water-efficient methods of cleaning utensils.

"We the udersigned",
 It has come to my attention that Starbucks has been running water constantly in it's 10,000 stores. Now that we are aware of this I am creating this petition to demand that Starbucks stop this practice. Please read this linkhttp://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:GUfE3MpWYYEJ:www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Report16Vol1.pdf http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Report16Vol1.pdf%2520and%2520another%2520one%2520(its%252012%2520MB!):%2520http://repository.tudelft.nl/file/452017/371720&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a and  urge Starbucks to stop there water wasting policy.