We’re pretty good at doing green in the office. All our waste paper is recycled, of course, and in 2006 we sent 28,160 kg of paper that way, saving the equivalent of 341 trees and 118,300 kWh of energy. Whether those trees were bonsai or giant sequoia, I don’t know, but we did win an award.
After Christmas there was a scheme to get us all bringing in our festive cards and sending them off for planet-friendly pulping, and in the next few months we’ll introduce can and CD recycling. It all makes for a nicer place to work.
Perhaps the best move of the last year, though, was to buy proper reusable metal cutlery for the kitchens. For several years, the well-stocked kitchens on every floor were kitted out with three large cardboard boxes. Each one would hold a couple of thousand spoons, forks or knives; all plastic and destined to be dispatched to the dustbin after a single use.
The moment their metal replacements arrived, they disappeared, and haven’t been back. Initial concerns that we’d have too few proper utensils to go around proved unfounded, and we’re a greener, better place as a result.
Now Bring Your Own is hoping to do the same in the wider world, as it encourages us to carry around proper metal knives, forks and spoons, fabric napkins and shopping bags, and proper cups or mugs that you’d use in a cafe in place of a paper or plastic disposable. Camping kit would be ideal here.
It’s a US initiative, and is already paying dividends with some outlets – Starbucks being a notable and commendable example – actually offering a discount to anyone who provides their own mug for filling.
Sadly, without some wide-ranging publicity I can’t imagine that anyone bringing their own mug to a coffee chain over here would be treated with anything but scepticism, and sadly a click through Starbucks’ UK site reveals no mention of any similar scheme.
However, I emailed Starbucks’ UK customer care team to see what the official line was, and it’s good news. The response:
We do offer a discount of 10p if people bring in their own travel mugs.
We appreciate you getting in touch and look forward to welcoming you back soon to your local Starbucks.
So, a big hand to Starbucks for taking a lead here. Let’s hope it starts to push this scheme in-store, without waiting for us to ask.
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