STARBUCKS was blasted by environmental experts last night after The Sun discovered it pours millions of litres of precious water down the drain at its coffee shops. The giant coffee chain has a policy of keeping a tap running non-stop at all its 10,000 outlets worldwide, wasting 23.4 MILLION litres a day. That would provide enough daily water for the entire two million-strong population of drought-hit Namibia in Africa or fill an Olympic pool every 83 minutes.
Every Starbucks branch has a cold tap behind the counter providing water for a sink called a “dipper well”, used for washing spoons and utensils. Staff are banned from turning the water off under bizarre health and safety rules — bosses claim a constant flow stops germs breeding in the taps. Starbucks has built up a massive chain, popular with coffee drinkers from Hollywood stars to builders, and proudly boasts of its work for the environment. But water companies accused the firm of HARMING the environment by frittering away a vital natural resource. And the claim that running taps are needed for hygiene reasons was dismissed by experts as “nonsense”.
Starbucks has 698 branches in Britain, each open for 13 hours a day. Even a slow flowing tap spurts out at least three litres of water a minute, meaning UK Starbucks are wasting an estimated 1.63 MILLION litres a day. That is the daily water requirement for a town the size of Matlock, Derbyshire. And water shortage is seen as one of the major problems facing the world.
This is puzzling, there seems to be absolutely no advantage for doing this, so why can’t the “Manager” grow a pair and make the decision to turn it off?
Whatever.
I haven’t noticed this happening for a long time in our local starbucks (Riverside County, CA). Local ordinances may prohibit it. But now I’m curious and will be on the lookout and bitch like Hillary on steroids if I see them running water continuously.
You’ll find the same thing at any ice cream shop. This is nothing new, nor is it limites to Starbucks.
How could Namibia be relevant? They don’t get their water from England. How do you waste water, actually? Unless you break it down into hydrogen and oxygen, there is no water actually consumed, just used, and recycled. Most of the globe is covered with the stuff. OK, if there is limited fresh water in your area, it’s an issue. We have 3 rivers going through our town and one major stream…. just think, all that water “being wasted”, just flowing to the ocean and evaporating – what a darn shame…someone needs to put a stop to it.
#4 is exactly right. Bring back the OUTHOUSE!!!
“That would provide enough daily water for the entire two million-strong population of drought-hit Namibia in Africa”
And how would Startbucks get the water to Nambia?
Pointless eco drivel…
bosses claim a constant flow stops germs breeding in the taps.
Electricity can’t travel back up the stream when you pee on an electric fence, either.
#3: The ice cream dipper can be cleaned in a few seconds by turning on the tap and washing the scoop. It slows things down a bit for the soda jerks at Baskin Robbins, but doesn’t run water all the time.
Same with Starbucks, Caribou, Seattle, etc.
Call me crazy, but so what. Its not like the water is falling off the Earth, never to be seen again. It gets put back into the Earth and will find its way back into the drinking water system through the miracle of nature. I don’t see this as a big deal.
Potable water (the stuff that comes out of taps in “first world” countries) is a diminishing resource, even in the UK. Purifying water and recycling it uses energy, also a diminishing resource. Leaving taps running all day is contributing to global warming by using power unnecessarily.
#10 Pretty funny.
Energy isn’t a diminishing resource. There’s plenty of nuc, solar, wind, etc. We haven’t really begun to tap it. All the nuc weapons alone can be processed into fuel that would last a LONG time.
Energy & water shortages are created by moronic politicians who are voted in by uneducated morons.
Obviously most of you morons live in the suburbs and think water just “magically” appears at your faucet. There are many areas in the US where water is a diminishing commodity and it is a crime to wash your vehicle or water your lawn at certain times of year. Typical suburbian idiots that think all natural resources are infinte.
#12 Water is an infinite resource on this planet.
#12 “Typical suburbian[sic] idiots that think all natural resources are infinte[sic].”
If you live in CA, just walk Westward until you realize how much water there is on the planet…
Global warming no longer exists… it is now called climate change, and we still have little to no control over it.
If the UK is anything like the states, and I hear it is worse, the local health department likely requires them to run the water constantly. I own a restaurant and can’t describe how many ridiculous things we have to do to keep the doors open.
#12
Well, unlike some “morons”, I didn’t choose to move somewhere that doesn’t have enough water to sustain life. If it bothers you, stop bathing, drinking and flushing the toilet. Or bottle your water and mail it to Namibia. Or stop drinking lattes. Can we see a copy of your water bill, Mr. Eco-pure?
So that’s what they should do in Atlanta, just go drink sea water…
I frequent two starbucks and neither have theirs going on a constant flow. Hell, they serve their coffee way too hot anyway.
#16. Well Water dumbass, and yes it can dry up if everyone in the vicinity left the water on all day.
#17 Thomas cried, “So that’s what they should do in Atlanta, just go drink sea water…”
They should stop electing lawyers and maybe consider putting Civil engineers into positions of authority. That way the rivers in Georgia wouldn’t be left to discharge all the fresh water into the ocean…
#14 – After that westward hike, fill up a two liter bottle with some of that water and use it for your drinking water.
A good term to google is “salt-water encroachment” particularly if you live on the east coast.
The Colorado River is generally doesn’t make it to the ocean. It is totally drained by man.
River water is fresh, unless those bastards upstream dumped something into it.
I know where my water comes from. I pump it out of the ground. Its free.
Of course that pump shorted out awhile back. Had to hire someone to haul it up one hundred feet to the surface and replace it. That cost a little.
The water was free though.
I suppose the electricity bill is partially due to pumping the stuff to the surface.
OK water isn’t free, but it doesn’t cost as much as that stuff you buy at the supermarket. Water with an expiration date?
There is a third option. They could just turn the valve so it has a slower stream of water. No need to have it on full blast. Maybe there could be a timing mechanism that turns it on and off every minute or so.
I see this more of a convenience; the barista just has to put a spoon in the hole to clean it off. Either way, watering lawns AS IT’S RAINING is something I see alot too.. There will always be something to cry about.
#20…because your GOP buddies killed off the Clean Water Act, those rivers are polluted by “self-policing” (cough cough) industries. That water can’t be used without serious filtration, which is a government burden.
Now, if the costs of cleaning the water fell onto those who polluted it in the first place, or maybe even the obvious solution were possible, then the government could save some serious dough. But that costs the GOP donations, so it’s not likely to happen.
#21 “River water is fresh, unless those bastards upstream dumped something into it.”
Fresh != clean.
“Typical suburbian idiots that think all natural resources are infinte.”
Sure water is a finite resource. But running water down the drain does not eliminate it. The water still exists. Maybe one day we’ll learn how to break the hydrogen from the oxygen and use it as a fuel. And on that day we’ll be wasting water, because the water we use as fuel will never come back. But that’s not what is happening here.
And of course you’ll change your argument and claim that cleaning that drain and sewer water back into drinking water takes energy. But that has nothing to do with water. The fact that energy is wasted in this world is not really in dispute.
“Fresh != clean.”
Which can be proven conclusively by the fresh turd I just dumped in the toilet.
tsk tsk tsk. Its saddening to read the most stupid comments ever on the internet. No wonder USA is the world biggest polluter and consumer. Be it oil or water, they will waste no time to waste these precious resources. There are people in this world where they have to drink from the same place where cows, horses and other animals drink and shower. And here you are wasting so much water just to wash your coffee cups, and instead of feeling guilty, u guys are happy to waste it. Shame!
#27 doker said,
“And here you are wasting so much water just to wash your coffee cups, and instead of feeling guilty, u guys are happy to waste it. Shame!”
Umm, you want us to ship the water half way around the world? Are you nuts or s/g?
#28 – O’Furniture
I’m sure if you had to drink from the same place that cows, horses and other animals shower, you’d want water shipped around the world too.
#27 – zorkor
Why don’t you and your Muslim friends work on improving these conditions?