Starbucks Must Recycle

To:  Starbucks Corporation

Dear Starbucks,

We, the multitude of your customers, wish to express a deep concern over some of your practices. Starbucks proudly declares itself a “green” company, yet in reality, it hardly practices what it preaches. With over 11,000 stores (and counting) in the US alone, Starbucks generates a great deal of waste, most of it – predominantly in paper, plastic and glass, much of which is recyclable. In theory. Given the size of the franchise, the effect of this waste on the environment can hardly be overestimated, and yet Starbucks does not do nearly enough of what’s in its power to cut down the waste and recycle what is possible.
Here are the measures that we think Starbucks can and should take to live up to its “green” image:

a) Offer real (e.g., ceramic) mugs to customers whenever possible, in lieu of disposable cups. Even the few Starbucks stores that do actually have ceramic mugs do not advertise this option to their customers. By contrast, the competing franchise, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, explicitly offer beverages “for here” in non-disposable cups. Accidentally, this typically makes the beverage much more enjoyable.

b) Offer recycling options in all stores. This can be achieved trivially by having a few separate trash cans.

We think that a time frame of six months should be more than enough time to at least start implementing these simple measures. If within six months after the date of this petition Starbucks will show no signs of good will in this matter, we will vote with our feet. Thankfully, there are alternatives.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Starbucks Must Recycle Petition to Starbucks Corporation was created by Starbucks customers and written by Ilya Eckstein (ilyaeck@usc.edu).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.