Starbucks announces Shared Planet goals it hopes to achieve by 2015

Those goals include:

* 100% of Starbucks cups will be either reusable or recyclable
* Significantly reduce water usage
* Purchase 100% of all coffee through ethical sourcing practices, up from the current 65%
* Increase recycling available in our stores
* Engage 50,000 young social entrepreneurs to innovate and take action and, in turn, inspire 100,000 individuals to take action in their communities through the Starbucks Social Entrepreneurs Fund || Read "Starbucks Announces Renewed Commitment to Communities"



Comments

[tired of this crap]

BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. OOOOH I'M STARBUCKS AND I AM GONNA SAVE THE WORLD OOOOH..... ENOUGH ALREADY. YOU SERVE COFFEE. SHUT UP AND GIVE ME MY COFFEE AND SCREW YOUR TIP

[sigh]

i'm sad that the first comment to this was so negative. jeez.

[Melody]

I've spent hours and hours (literally) pouring over CAFE practices information from several different sources. It would be nice to the percentage of CAFE coffee go up to 100% but it lacks the assurance of being truly responsibly sourced unless Starbucks does more to incentivise farmers to score higher on their CAFE practices score card.

Starbucks, ostensibly, has made it a goal to have all over thier farmers scoring above an 80 on the score card, but the last data I could find was from 2005, showing only 30% of their farmers scoring that high.

The criticism, sadly, that the CAFE standards programs lacks teeth, is a fair criticism without more information about scorecard results.

http://www.v2v.net/actions/be-knowledgeable-about-cafe-st

That is not to say that the CAFE program doesn't have merit. It has a ton of merit. CAFE farmers have to meet certain pre-requisites before their application will even be considered by Starbucks, and the score card is LONG and comprehensive, covering everything from transportation for farm workers to the nearest emergency facility to how much tree canopy is on the farm. So a farmer who is scoring anywhere above 50% is still doing a lot considering the million and one hoops Starbucks wants their farmers to jump through.

Please excuse typos.

[Melody]

Oh my - and there were lots of typos in that! my bad! I usually re-read my posts for grammar and typos and didn't this time. Sorry.

[Elizabeth]

Finally recyclable cups. But will this mean people will actually recycle them, or will they end up in the trash? Maybe the paper cups could be biodegradable.

[The ASM]

@ Melody, you make me smile.

I am really happy to hear about this. I wish I could be at Leadership this year but since I'm only an ASM, I could not go. :-(

PS: Its so unfortunate that people don't care what major companies do to help save the planet. I love this company, not all the time, just most of the time.

[Recyclotron]

All this stuff is nonsense -- just NONSENSE -- if we don't get our act together with recycling.

My high-volume DT store recycles NOTHING apart from regulated corrugated. Not glass, not milk jugs, not plastic bottles, nothing. Customers approach all of the time and ask where they can recycle their IZZE bottles. Why, in the garbage, of course.

Fine, I know much of the high-pressure food service industry is like this, we certainly don't have labor to do anything like that, but, please.

Let's stop fooling ourselves with compostable cup talk and fix the simple things.

[The ASM]

Can anyone try to be positive on this site for a change...PLEASE

[non-fat americano]

I dont understand the need to be so negative. I mean, at least there's an effort put in to be more environmentally friendly. sheesh!
At my store we actually have a very environmentally-aware partner and as a result she set up a system where people would come by and collect our glass bottles and newspapers to be recycled every week. I think its great more effort is going to be put in to increase more recycling for all stores.

[STARBUCKS GOSSIP WEBMASTER]

I didn't set this site up to be a cheerleading operation, but the people who can't even criticize constructively are starting to annoy me; they'll be banned very soon.

Jim

People and entities will only do something if it benefits them. Why should Starbucks be a green company unless there is a benefit for the company? The only reason Starbucks is undertaking this initiative is because it believes that enough of its customers care about it to make a noticeable difference. You don't see McDonalds doing much around being a "green" company because the vast majority of their customers don't really care enough to make a difference. Starbucks is a business. It's not a non-profit organization. It's a great company but don't confuse what the bottom line of a company is with the purpose of a charity.

[Pat Nerr]

I hope this falls under the "constructive" banner... Let's try to pull ourselves out of the willy-nilly operating manner we've been in and fix that other crap when we figure out who "we" are and what "we" do... that is, serve coffee to people. Until then... limit your messaging and goals to the here and now.

[JonnySF]

This is why I am a starbucks royal customer, not Macdonald's.

Everyone, we should all feel proud to be part of the team and make things happen... Please stop complaining! thanks!

I agree with Recyclotron. There is so much that could be done already. Let's hold off on the lofty dreams of compostable cups and find a reliable way to recycle what we already have. At my store we can't recycle glass. While that is better than some stores, it would be nice to be able to recycle it. As soon as my SM gets back from Leadership, I'm going to see if I can't take it home myself and send it in with the rest of my own glass recyclables at home.

[sbux_customer_2000]

As a customer, I sort of wonder what Starbucks' priorities are.

I mean no disrespect to the people behind the counter -- you all certainly look overworked and underpaid (as I suspect many retail food service employees feel like and are), but what Starbucks says and what Starbucks does seems schizophrenic. One day it's healthy and the next it's lard-laden desserts posing as breakfast.

Also, the priorities seem out of whack. It's like a house: you have to have a good, solid foundation for the rest of the house to sit on. Starbucks hasn't developed or nurtured a great foundation. Anything put on that -- for instance this recycling program -- will fail. It has no support. There's just not any time. How can the baristas work on deploying ANOTHER initiative when they're too busy making sure that they have the coffee in the store they ordered and the distribution center (as I read here) hasn't delivered? How can they effectively tell me about this new Gold Card (which, by the way, is a sick, elitist smack at loyal customers) when they don't have enough staff to make the coffee and ring through sales while keeping the line down?

I don't see this company as developing anything until that foundation is created.

And, again, please know this isn't for the baristas out there -- you all have little effect on the decisions on how the stores are run, beyond the everyday things. You all rock, though! It's those pesky people above you...

I will say, unfortunately, if it gets any worse (long lines, frazzled service, and the such), I can't be bothered to go to Starbucks anymore. The company might lose another customer because of this. And, while recycling is good, yes, another failed initiative is enough to make me feel like the focus isn't on the customer any more, but on what Starbucks can yank out of the Public Relations can this week.

[Cut out the Heart]

sbux_customer_2000 - excellent post and one that should be heeded by those in charge. The one thing that differentiated Sbux from others, the experience, is continuing to erode. What made the experience, the partners. The HR practices at the company have slowly become anti-employee which is impacting the experience and you are noticing as a Guest.

No gimmicks will bring the company back until they drop the gimmicks and get back to basics which is to take care of the employees who will take care of the Guest who will take care of the Company.

Again, excellent insights on sbux_customer_2000.

ANOTHER SHOW
Leadership Conference like March shareholders meeting is a platform for the company to try to wipe the slate clean: "OK, we blew it, but from now on, here's what we're going to do." Accountability is elusive.

(1) March shareholders meeting touted transformation agenda items. What action items have been realized from these numbered proclamations?

(2) Leadership conference rolled out an environmental campaign with convenient way down-the-road benchmarks.

Yes, Sbux might be able to tackle certain environmental issues, but should do it without tooting its own horn. Quit the grandstanding, do the deed and tell us if/when you get there. (When will Communications/PR learn?)

Management's job since HS' return must be to demonstrate how it is rebuilding the business by way of getting back to the coffee core. So far, elusive.

[I still heart the SSC]

Erm... 9.59... Really?

Looking at the numbers I feel the 2015 goals should be, "Let's not remember 2008-09 as the year we were acquired by (insert random conglom name here) and should instead be, "Sell people great coffee with great service."

[Sense]

"I didn't set this site up to be a cheerleading operation, but the people who can't even criticize constructively are starting to annoy me; they'll be banned very soon."
Jim

I'll believe that when I see it JM, you've been letting them bash away here for a long time.

[givemeabreak]

Although this is a POSITIVE topic. I have to say it's ABOUT FREAKING TIME. SBUX is a company who TRIRED for a very long time to create an image that they were SO environmentally aware. Even though they may have FOOLED most of the public, ANYONE that works or has ever worked for SBUX knows that this is a FALSE IMAGE. With the increased pressure of an educated society, NOT recycling is UNACCEPTABLE. So SBUX finally climbs on the bandwagon & starts to "talk about" the things they have claimed for a long time. It's NO surprise that customers are SHOCKED that they have to throw their Izze bottles in the trash. SBUX's false image has caught up with them & their stock price proves this!

[jabanga]

it starts with store design if you ask me. most stores don't have enough space to store their goods let alone have a place to store recycling till pick-up. some plazas have facilities, but many do not. i implemented recycling in my stores, but it was only after overcoming a million obstacles, and even then, it was very incomplete compared to what could have been done.

[CD]

sbux_customer_2000 - great post.

I think this really comes down to actions versus words. Starbucks is using their PR machine to promote their words, but customers and employees have seen the actions (can't recycle IZZE bottles in stores, post consumer paper cups can't be recycled at all, stores don't recycle milk jugs, etc., etc., etc.) and the disconnect is obvious.

Starbucks is full of words these days: Excellence. Perfect. Any my scratch-your-head favorite - Melange. Enough already. Take some action Starbucks! Go back to the basics of second-to-none customer service.

Remember, long before there was Starbucks advertising and PR department overdrive there was the Starbucks Experience - and it was built on action not words.

[sneaky]

My favorite is the one million community service hours, starting with the 50,000 while in New Orleans. What saddens me is that these 50,000 hours are manditory - not volunteer. Partners had no choice whether to participate or not.

That looks more like Volun-Told to me.

How can someone feel a sense of pride in their contribution when there is no personal commitment or connection to the project because they were forced into it?

The Partner Resources team did a study last year and discovered that 63% of partners (including ASM's & SM's) had second jobs in order to make ends meet. Who has time to participate in mandated community action when you have to work 80 hours a week to pay the bills?

[truth]

Any effort to spread the word on being more responsible toward the environment is great.

However, I question why sbux is hitched up to Conservation International, a DC-based 'non-profit' whose purpose it is to tell you how their 'partners' are clean. CI's roster reads like an environmental murderer's row of corporate polluters: miners (BHP, Rio Tinto, Newmont), oil companies (Shell, Chevron, BP) and paper mills (Weyerhauser, Boise Cascade, Intl Paper) and even cruise lines.

With so many green-minded orgs in the Seattle area, why is sbux saddling up with this DC-based lobbying firm who is associated with so many bad players?

[Recyclotron]

Hopefully you don't consider my perspective non-constructive criticism.

I mean, while my rhetoric might have been forceful, the point is simple, and it includes a solution.

PROPOSAL: Starbucks proposes making cups, etc more environmentally friendly in coming years.

CONCERN: Many Starbucks stores recycle a small percentage of recyclable consumables at their stores -- mine included.

COUNTERPROPOSAL: Spend the time and energy to improve current infrastructure and policies prior to researching novel ideas with reduced marginal benefit.

[spence]

We are in a catch 22 here. Keeping the labor down and the lines short just don't mesh. We certainly do not have time to rinse milk jugs. We don't even have time to be welcoming.
We do need to make the time to make perfect drinks. That is in our control. A perfect drink and a warmer greeting goes a long ways. I just wish I had time for the warm greeting.

[Douglas]

This recycle stuff is all such a bunch of feel good nonsense.

We're all wasting our time sorting garbage.

[givemeabreak]

Douglas,
You need to pull your head out of the sand! With a mentality like that, you'll be a barista for a very LONG time.

[Me]

And to save the planet we just added another annoying MANDATORY question in my region. "Would you like that in a for here mug?".
Even so I welcome the effort to use more mugs than paper cups for staying customers, I think it shouldn't be a mandatory question during e.g. the morning rush.
The e-mail clearly states every single customer has to be asked. DMs and SMs are to be held accountable for the execution of this action item. This means even if I know my customer doesn't want to stay because he is rushing to work I will still have to ask him. This is RIDICULOUS! A great idea not thought through the end. Maybe they should have more signs telling customers they have the option to get mugs, but forcing another question onto them in the morning might drive them out of the store for good.

Besides, we don't even have the facilities to store enough mugs and keep them clean. Do we get an extra partner on the floor for dish washing now? Most stores I know have their sanitizer off the floor. This means whoever is taking care of the mug cleaning is off the floor for that time (pre washing, setting up the sanitizer, emptying it out will take more than 5 seconds).

Oh well, high turnover rates and trouble even hiring a Barista (not to mention a good one) tells it all...
My store has only one Barista and one SS working there for more than 15 month...

[houtxbarista]

I'm all for recycling annoying customers -- especially the Sunday only crowd. A compost pile out back would do the trick. I hear annoying customers are typically 100% biodegradable....

[Reader]

This is not meant to be negative, BUT! I work in a store that has limited means for recycling. We have a place for cardboard & paper- that's it. We throw out TONS of milk cartons- and it's a shame! My store does not own the property it's on, so it's up to the property-owner to supply plastic-recycling bins.
On the other hand, it would be nice if we were supplied with the small recycling cans for paper cups, bags, newspapers, etc. to be kept in the cafe for customers' use.