I work for the company. after being with them for nearly a year now, and working in two VERY different states (CA to TX—think about the difference in the people, even), I’ve gotten a good look at how wasteful and careless people are.
I get reusing paper “for here” cups. for the most part I only ever receive “refils” for brewed coffee. in order for the customer to get the 50 cent coffee refill, they are required to bring back the cup they originally had at first. otherwise, we do charge them for the full value of the drink if they don’t have a cup. EVEN if they had been sitting in the lobby for 4 hours. you throw it away, you lose your discount.
rarely do people get ceramic mugs for their drinks, mostly because people aren’t going to sit around in the Starbucks. and even the people that do, for the most part, always want their drinks in the paper cups.
if a customer brings in their own cup (when they come in for their first drink) then we ring them up for a 10 cent cup discount. Starbucks DOES have ways to thank the customer for reusing and saving—you save money on whatever drink you get.
it is NOT unsanitary to reuse your paper cup or even plastic cup for a drink. what IS unsanitary is not rinsing out the cup (for hot cups we pour a bit of hot water from our brewer dispenser and swish it around to get whatever last-drink residue there may be hanging around in the cup… and cold cups, if it’s not water, just use the sink and rinse it out. simple and easy enough.) before putting the new beverage in it. health code states that we are not allowed to hand out a drink without a lid—but if the customer keeps their lid, IN THEIR HANDS when they want a refill, we don’t have to give them a new lid (we just aren’t allowed to touch their used lid) even after we hand their drink back to them. this usually only pertains to brewed coffee anyway. most people do not get refills for things other than iced tea and brewed coffee but all of the same rules and ideals go with even lattes or frappuccinos. just rinse it out-although you don’t pay 50 cent refills are only for iced coffee, tea, and brewed coffee.
but the only real issue with this campaign here is that we can’t just have a bunch of used “for here” paper cups sitting around—there would be massive health code issues, along with the fact that Starbucks partners need to keep their store neat and orderly. the partners themselves need to use and keep one cup for the drinks they have all the time throughout their shifts (like I do, and I try to keep my cup unless someone throws it away, which happens more than often… because of clutter in the store and such)
I don’t believe that customers would feel very “safe” having to drink out of the same paper cup they had their latte in yesterday. the paper will get nasty, and for the most part people are pretty sloppy with their drinks…
the plastic cups are MUCH MUCH more of an issue than the paper cups. especially with all of these women who demand their venti frappuccino be double-cupped with a hot cup sleeve. now that, my friends, is beyond ridiculous.
let’s charge them a fee-for the wasters.
the fact that stores don’t always have enough ceramic mugs and cups and glasses and such is just annoying. of course, if your store is mostly a drive-thru store and you hardly have any customers coming inside and staying, it would make sense. but all stores need to be equipped properly with what they need based on what the customers like. a lot of customers, like I said before, just don’t like to have their drink in a ceramic mug.
and what about the folks who stay in a Starbucks with all their pastries and whatnot and demand a shopping bag to carry them in to their table 5 feet away, then throw away the bag? we can REQUEST that people reuse, recycle, and think twice before wasting so much plastic and paper, but it all still comes down to the actual consumer, the customer… the person with all the requests in the world for their one drink. a carrying tray for 2 drinks is a bit annoying, but it’s understandable.
and the fact that some stores are required to double-cup/sleeve venti hot coffees and venti hot teas… makes sense, but it is still wasteful. customers are spoiled and get angry if they don’t get what they expect. a zillion little things on, in, and around their cup. many people do not agree with me, and for the most party even with my fellow baristas, no one shares the same opinion as me and I’m dubbed as “radical” or “insane” or “nuts” about my requests for recycling and conserving.
for example: a “regular” customer comes in. she’s probably in her early to mid twenties, fake-nice voice, not very thankful, but what you’d expect (to be honest, and I don’t that in a mean way). she will get an “inexpensive” drink (what ISN’T expensive at a Starbucks-it’s a luxury!), or fuss with the barista to get an expensive drink at a lower price (like the “ghetto latte” customers who get two or three shots of espresso in an iced cup or even hot cup with ice, basically leaving more than 6 inches of room. they then go to the CONDIMENT bar the meaning of condiment not applying to them or something? and fill up their cup with half and half. basically avoiding paying the latte amount when so many people do-unfair and rude, quite cheeky. it’s not about the fact that we didn’t make the extra dollar or two, but more about the principal, and the fact that the baristas now have to go fill up more carafes sooner… etc etc. milk is NOT cheap and they’ve cheated us basically)…
and she always asks for an ice water… “oh yeah, can I get a venti ice water… double cupped with a sleeve?” the last time she did this (and thank goodness she didn’t ask for the double cup, extra plastic… I would’ve blown up if she had) she asked for a sleeve, and I did, as I always do, politely ask her if she would use a napkin or two instead (because unless you have some sort of MEDICAL condition which entitles you to use a sleeve with your iced drink, it’s just ridiculous and cheeky in my opinion) and she immediately frowned, got an attitude, and stormed off by saying “yeah I GUESS”… didn’t even get her napkin. the fact that she was so bothered by me asking her that just blew me away. is it the “I’m so spoiled” factor? the fact that people have become accustomed to using sleeves and double cups and extra this and that to their one stupid drink? or is it just pure greed. the Starbucks complex. “I go to Starbucks and look how special I am, I have 6 different logos with my coffee” …..
I even go so far as to leave a silly/light/polite message on sleeves in a little basked on the hand-off counter for all the ladies and gentlemen who insist on using sleeves with their iced drinks asking them to think twice or to grab a napkin instead. my fellow co-workers have laughed at me and told me to stop because “it’s stupid to care about what the customers do”…
I feel SO passionate about conserving and not wasting one single little thing that I get FURIOUS when I hear or see someone get a sleeve with their iced drink… enough to make me QUIT Starbucks (I rarely EVER went to a Starbucks before I worked for them) just so I don’t have to see or hear or deal with it ever again. co-workers tell me to just give up, to shut up about it and don’t mention it to customers in case I offend someone. I’m pretty sure I have offended people, no matter how polite I am about it, I see the expression on their face when I ask them “do you recycle?” or “would it be cool that you use a napkin instead on that ice water because we’re all trying to conserve?” and I get flustered and embarrassed because they look like I just asked them to commit suicide or something. that deer-in-the-headlights gaze. “WHAT, a Starbucks person saying I shouldn’t use a sleeve on my frappuccino! HOW RUDE!!!!!!!!!!!! I NEED THIS!! I NEED AN EXTRA CUP SO IT FITS BETTER IN MY CUP HOLDER!!!!!”
GOD, Starbucks and Solo and Berry Plastics DESIGNED the cups, lids, and sleeves a certain way so you wouldn’t NEED extra this and that on your bloody drink! and how often does someone hold their frappuccino in their hand until it goes numb from the cold? that doesn’t happen. people put down their drinks, people drink them quickly enough so that there isn’t even COLD touching their hands…
no, but it’s because a lot of these (excuse me for saying) “prissy” “spoiled” (whatever you want to call them) women (and truly, I’m not trying to single-out women ESPECIALLY since I am one, but it’s just a mere fact. gosh I should make statistics on these things), especially older women (and a lot of the teenage/twenty-somethings)… who, for the most part, are all very self-centered/concerned, typically unpleasant during the whole ordering/drink-making process, and demand or expect you to know that they want their frappuccino/iced caramel macchiatto/iced tea double cupped with a sleeve, with a straw inserted and everything. (it’s irrelevant that these folks don’t tip, they rarely/never say “thank you”, and they usually keep on their sunglasses or stay on their phones… oh wait! this hardly even pertains to my experience in a wealthy high-volume Los Angeles Starbucks. I’m talking about suburban-Houston, Texas.)
you request that these customers do a little something different. they don’t want to change, they want what they want in a very particular way, and how dare you ask them to use a napkin instead of a sleeve.
I could go on and on and on and on and ON forever about so many things relating to Starbucks, recycling, waste, customers, attitudes, and the general vibe I get working at a Starbucks about all of these relating issues… I’m sure that no one will read what I have to say or think I’m probably extreme in my views and unreasonable.
I say, just WORK at a Starbucks for a little while and see it all for yourself.
one would expect Los Angeles, California to be more environmentally conscious than, say, Houston, Texas… and it’s completely true. it’s all about the people, the vibe, the general way of life. until Texans get a grip on how much they waste and how easy it is to save and recycle, they will keep wasting. and until Starbucks puts a fee on extra cups and this and that, people will continue to waste freely. I’d love to hear people complain about how ridiculous it is for them to have to pay 30 cents extra for extra cups and such (and how about the people that want free ice waters (fair enough, I am more than happy to give someone a cup of water, but the freeloaders that come in regularly just for water and nothing else is a bit annoying) and free cups of whipped cream and this and that) just so I can laugh at THEM and point out how ridiculous it is that they need 2 plastic cups surrounding their drink just because it’s prettier that way.
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