Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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Ideas to try and reduce straw/cup waste? (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by kidneybean1475
Now that we are getting into summer and more and more people are ordering iced drinks, a problem that has been bugging me for a while has become far more prominent. Straws. Well, more than just straws, more like the complete disregard by customers and starbucks as a company for the amount of plastic and paper waste we create. I spent a few hours in drive through today, and tried to keep a mental note on how many people were requesting straws for their various iced drinks, and it felt like an overwhelming majority did. This frustrates me because starbucks specifically designed our new lids to not need a straw, a change that I commend SB for. However, this goes beyond just straws; people asking for double cups, multiple cups of water and/or ice, and people requesting cream in separate cups just to pour a drop into their coffee and throw it all away immediately afterwards. And that's not even touching on the amount of waste from our food packaging.
Obviously, we can't just tell our customers "no" when they ask for all these extra things, even if I wish we could. So this leads me to ask everyone here, any ideas? I'm going to share the idea myself and a few coworkers brainstormed, and obviously, I'm not all that knowledgeable on the economical and environmental factors that play into a topic like this, so expect lots of holes and imperfections in this idea. Because it is exactly that- an idea, just to try to propose to others who might improve upon it, or have better ones.
My suggestion would be to put a small fee on all straws (unless needed due to whips, Fraps, etc), all cups for water/ice, and extra cups for cream, etc. Nothing drastic, just enough to get people to think twice. But rather than starbucks keeping the profits, they would all go towards foundations that help protect/restore the environment. Introduce more affordable reusable cups, and sell special reusable straws, again with profits donated, to incentivize not relying on disposable ones. Naturally, many people will complain, but hey, what else is new.
Anyone else have any ideas? I just want to open this up for discussion and brainstorming. Again, I really have no experience or say in these issues, so please, make your own suggestions. This was just like my first basic idea, and I'd love to hear if anyone else has similar disdain in how the company and its customers handle this issue.
Obviously, we can't just tell our customers "no" when they ask for all these extra things, even if I wish we could. So this leads me to ask everyone here, any ideas? I'm going to share the idea myself and a few coworkers brainstormed, and obviously, I'm not all that knowledgeable on the economical and environmental factors that play into a topic like this, so expect lots of holes and imperfections in this idea. Because it is exactly that- an idea, just to try to propose to others who might improve upon it, or have better ones.
My suggestion would be to put a small fee on all straws (unless needed due to whips, Fraps, etc), all cups for water/ice, and extra cups for cream, etc. Nothing drastic, just enough to get people to think twice. But rather than starbucks keeping the profits, they would all go towards foundations that help protect/restore the environment. Introduce more affordable reusable cups, and sell special reusable straws, again with profits donated, to incentivize not relying on disposable ones. Naturally, many people will complain, but hey, what else is new.
Anyone else have any ideas? I just want to open this up for discussion and brainstorming. Again, I really have no experience or say in these issues, so please, make your own suggestions. This was just like my first basic idea, and I'd love to hear if anyone else has similar disdain in how the company and its customers handle this issue.
laura_palmers_ghost 7 points 1y ago
I think that straws make up only a small portion of the waste we create at sbux. We throw away so many things that we could easily recycle. By charging a fee for straws, we would be placing the blame on individuals, when Starbucks as a corporation is responsible for the waste we create as a part of our job (tossing plastic milk containers, plastic from warming, etc.)
59625962 3 points 1y ago
We keep our straws out for the taking; helps with efficiency because guests don't constantly pester us for stuff
galaxyd1ngo 1 points 1y ago
Straws are necessary for some people with disabilities and it isn’t an option for some to use reusable straws (certain kinds or any). Singling out straw usage is going to alienate people who need single use straws and isn’t the answer.
Starbucks offers 25 stars + cup discount when people bring in their own cups (don’t forget it doesn’t have to be a starbucks cup, there are plenty of more affordable options out there) and if they advertise the star benefit more, that may help convert more people to reusable.
Water cups? Yeah, it’s totally ridiculous when people order six trenta cups. I’d be on board if we charged a small fee for cups of water (note, that you cannot charge for water in some places but you can charge for the cup), again, maybe so people who can bring in their own cups will start doing so. But doing this would cause more problems for starbucks and us than it’s probably worth.
Starbucks offers 25 stars + cup discount when people bring in their own cups (don’t forget it doesn’t have to be a starbucks cup, there are plenty of more affordable options out there) and if they advertise the star benefit more, that may help convert more people to reusable.
Water cups? Yeah, it’s totally ridiculous when people order six trenta cups. I’d be on board if we charged a small fee for cups of water (note, that you cannot charge for water in some places but you can charge for the cup), again, maybe so people who can bring in their own cups will start doing so. But doing this would cause more problems for starbucks and us than it’s probably worth.
Affectionate_Fart 1 points 1y ago
Dude there was a post that everyone was fighting about because of water. It’s ridiculous I’d like to see better implementation of reusable cups. Only a small fraction of our customers would use reusable. It is so unfortunate
galaxyd1ngo 1 points 1y ago
why are people fighting about water???? While reusable cups are great and all I also don’t trust half our customers to bring in clean cups
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