From Ecopedia

Overview

Starbucks Corporation is a leading US-based coffeehouse chain engaged in offering premium-quality coffee products to the global community. On March 30, 1971, three Seattle entrepreneurs, Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegel opened the original Starbucks in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, in Washington. With over 6000 stores spread across forty countries, Starbucks emerged as a premier international coffee brand.

Starbucks’ first store in Seattle started initially as a whole bean coffee facility and later turned into roasting and wholesale facility as well. By 1982, five additional Starbucks stores opened in the US. In 1987, Howard Schultz, took over Starbucks ownership for $4 million consideration. At present, the coffeehouse has over 8,700 retail outlets in Europe, the Pacific Rim and the Middle East besides the US.

Environmental Information

In an effort to achieve smaller environmental footprint, Starbucks is committed to adopting environment-friendly corporate policies. Since 1998, Starbucks collaborated with Conservation International to promote conservation through sustainable coffee production. Conservation International is a non-profit organization committed to the protection of global biodiversity.

In 1999, Starbucks initiated "Grounds for your Garden" program, allotting leftover coffee grounds for composting, and by 2004, Starbucks cut the size of paper napkins and garbage bags used in the stores to minimize the production of solid waste by 1.8 million pounds (816.5 metric tons).

In 2000, Starbucks joined the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) for utilizing the council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards to evaluate Starbucks building specifications.

Starbucks is actively striving to minimize electricity, water and natural gas consumption in all the company-owned stores. As a result in 2003, Starbucks changed to fluorescent lighting to conserve electricity and installed low-drip water faucets for the sinks in all the stores and espresso bars to achieve considerable reduction in water usage.

Recycling

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Starbucks is also committed to recycling of jute bags and disposable coffee cups utilized in the stores. In 2003, over 1.37 million pounds of grass and jute bags used for delivering unroasted coffee were recycled. The company also recycles milk jugs, cardboard boxes and such other waste products in certain commercial recycling units.

Starbucks is currently considering utilizing biodegradable material in the place of plastic for cup linings. In a move to encourage recycling, Starbucks customers were offered a $0.10 discount for using their own bugs. The move helped to prevent over 586,000 pounds of paper waste from getting filled in landfills in 2003.

Although, only a small fraction of the Starbucks cups contain FDA-approved recycled content, the effort saved about 5 million pounds of fiber from virgin trees every year.

In recognition of the company’s efforts, Starbucks received the prestigious National Recycling Coalition Recycling Works Award in 2005.

To complement the company efforts, the Green Team, a group of the US store managers, also aid in enhancing Starbucks environmental performance through improved environmental awareness in the Starbucks retail stores. The Green Team is primarily concerned about energy conservation, recycling, waste reduction and the Earth Day.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks http://www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/recycle.cfm http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004412179_starbucks14.html http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-88442.html http://www.csrwire.com/press/press_release/21808-Starbucks-Coffee-Company-to-Receive-2005-World-Environment-Center-Gold-Medal-for-International-Corporate-Achievement-in-Sustainable-Development http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/starbucksenvironmentalfactsheetfeb04.pdf http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/starbucksenvironmentalfactsheetfeb04.pdf