User:Ciara.r.dixon/sandbox

Water conservation in Starbucks For years, water has been watsted, and now big companies are starting to get critisized for it.

Starbucks is one of the companies for example, In 2008 Starbucks, was criticized by environmentalists for wasting more than 6 million gallons of water a day by using their dipper wells, A dipper well is a perpetual-flow sink often used in coffeehouses and ice cream shops to rinse utensils. Ice cream scoops and other food-preparation utensils can be placed under the continuous stream in order to remove allergens and protect against bacterial growth In 2008, U.K. newspaper The Sun estimated that the company wasted up to 6 million gallons of water every day, enough to quell the thirst of a small African nation. As a result of running water all day, every day at each of the company's 10,000 worldwide coffee emporiums, Starbucks wasted water in an amount The Sun estimated to be "enough daily water for the entire 2 million strong population of drought-hit Nah MIB ia in Africa or fill an Olympic pool every 83 minutes."

In a statement to ABC News, the Starbucks company confirmed that "the dipper well system currently in use in Starbucks retail stores ensures that we meet or exceed our own and local health standards." "Starbucks' challenge is to balance water conservation with the need for customer safety," the statement said. Starbucks Mission Statement: "understand environmental issues, to strive to buy, sell and use environmentally-friendly products, and to instill environmental responsibility as a corporate value." http://abcnews.go.com/International/SmartHome/story?id=5964908&page=1 This mission statement is something Starbucks really took and ran with, and began creating goals for themselves. Goal: Reduce water consumption by 25% in their company-owned stores by 2015 Although water consumption has decreased more than 17% since 2008, water use increased 5% in 2011 over the year before. Gallons   Liters 24.4          92.3….. 2008 22.4           84.8…… 2009 19.1           72.4…… 2010

20.1           76.2….. 2010 Decrease of 17.6 ON TRACK 25% Decrease……..2015 Water is a key ingredient in their beverages and a necessity for operating their stores. Much of the water in their stores is used to make coffee and tea beverages, and to run equipment such as dishwashers and ice machines. In 2008 they set a goal to reduce water consumption by 25 percent in company-owned stores by 2015. For the first three years, they saw a reduction of more than 20 percent in their water use as a result of several proactive measures, including a successful rollout of a hand-metered water system to replace their "dipper wells" and the installation of a low-use water faucet. In 2011 they saw water consumption increase 5 percent over the prior year, moving their total decrease to almost 17.5 percent. While some of the increase in water consumption was due to higher beverage sales, they believe that consumption was primarily driven by a change in their blender pitcher rinsing processes, and are taking proactive steps to address these issues moving forward. They are also implementing water savings techniques on the exterior of their new stores, such as landscaping with drought-resistant native species where they can to reduce the need for irrigation. Moving forward, they’ll continue to look for innovative ways to minimize water use in their stores around the world in order to reach their 2015 goal. Their work on water also extends into water consumption, protection and access to clean drinking water in coffee-growing communities. Through C.A.F.E. Practices, which is (Coffee and Farmer Equity) they work to encourage farmers to conserve water used for coffee processing, protect rivers and streams, and ensure workers have access to clean drinking water. Conservation International conducted country specific field surveys along with a global review of the formal C.A.F.E. Practices assessments to monitor impacts and identify areas for continuous improvement. http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/global-report/environmental-stewardship/water-conservation