Starbucks Wastes 23.4 Million Liters of Water Daily

British newspaper The Sun discovered last weekend that Starbucks has been wasting millions of liters of water every day by keeping a tap running non-stop at all of its 10,000 locations worldwide. The amount of water wasted is enough to provide daily water for the 2 million drought-stricken Namibians or to fill an Olympic pool every 83 minutes.

Every single Starbucks store has a cold tap behind the counter for a sink called a ‘dipper well’ which is used for washing spoons and utensils, and staff are banned from turning the water off under the misguided notion that leaving the tap on stops germs from breeding in the taps.

From The Sun:

And the claim that running taps are needed for hygiene reasons was dismissed by experts as “nonsense”.

A single Starbucks tap left running for just over three minutes wastes the amount of water one African needs to survive for a day in drought conditions.

The Sun investigated after a Starbucks executive revealed the policy in a letter to a couple who complained about a tap left running at their local branch.

Lisa Woolfe, 39, of Cuffley, Herts, said: “I noticed a small sink behind the counter had its tap running. The assistant said the store was told to keep it running as it cleaned the pipes.

“I could not believe it but when we contacted head office, they confirmed that the taps were left on and the water was not recycled.

“It is an absolutely astonishing waste of water, especially for a company which prides itself on its green credentials.”

The Sun confirmed taps running at Starbucks all over the world, from Vienna, Austria to Cluj, Romania (there are Starbucks in Romania?).  It’s even happening in drought-stricken Australia, where water is currently a very precious commodity.  Check out video of the taps running at The Sun website.

Way to waste, Starbucks.  This is really an astoundingly stupid thing to do, especially for a company so conscious of its image – did they think people would forgive them because they claim to be doing it for hygienic reasons?

If you still frequent Starbucks, this is as good a reason as any to shift your business to other coffeehouses – hopefully local ones.  It’s an outrage that they would hold such blatant disregard not only for the conservation of precious resources but for the people who are desperately in need of water.

Link [The Sun]
Photo credit: EarthFirst composite/Flickr user mobilestreetlife

Orange County, California’s Sewage to Drinking Water Treatment Plant Finished

Here in America, we have a water problem – and I’m not just talking about shortages. We waste incredible, mind-boggling amounts of it. There are so many things we can do to use water more wisely, and in parched Santa Ana, California, officials are getting creative in a way that has some residents angry and disgusted. They’re recycling toilet water. Like it or not, people might as well get used to ideas like these – it’s wasting so much water that’s really disgusting.

From The New York Times:

When you flush in Santa Ana, the waste makes its way to the sewage-treatment plant nearby in Fountain Valley, then sluices not to the ocean but to a plant that superfilters the liquid until it is cleaner than rainwater. The “new” water is then pumped 13 miles north and discharged into a small lake, where it percolates into the earth. Local utilities pump water from this aquifer and deliver it to the sinks and showers of 2.3 million customers. It is now drinking water. If you like the idea, you call it indirect potable reuse. If the idea revolts you, you call it toilet to tap.

Recycling sewage into potable water was a no-brainer for Orange County; an ever-rising population meant that a new $200M sewage pipeline would have needed to be built, and they over-pumped their groundwater basin to the point of drawing seawater into their water supply. So, the sewage to water plan works out for a lot of reasons. It sounds gross at first, but the process used to clean the water really is incredibly thorough.

If you think about it, though, why are we flushing so much fresh, clean, potable water in the first place? Greywater systems that at least divert used water from the bathroom sink and/or shower could be used to flush toilets instead. It seems absurd to foul perfectly good drinking water in such a way. The way we use water is so messed up and backwards. Hopefully we’ll do a lot of catching up in the coming decades as people realize how precious a resource it really is.

To read about the full treatment process that transforms the sewage into drinkable water, read the full piece in The New York Times.

Link [The New York Times]
Photo credit: Flickr user Oracio Alvarado

Couple Fined for Letting Lawn Die During a Drought

On June 4th, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought, so Anne Hartridge and Matt George, a Sacramento couple who already lived a pretty green lifestyle, decided it was as good a time as any to let their lawn die in preparation for doing something more productive with it. Not long after the grass turned brown, a neighbor complained to the city and the Code Enforcement Department gave the family a citation.

From redOrbit:

Their small brick home was declared a “public nuisance” in violation of city code section 17.68.010, which states that front yards “shall be irrigated, landscaped and maintained.”

A $746 fine will be next unless they correct the violation.

“In order to make the lawn go, I would have had to keep watering it intensely, and since the drought was declared, I decided that wasn’t a good idea,” said Hartridge. “Honestly, I think there’s a disconnect within the city about priorities.”

Two weeks ago, The Bee reported that Sacramento’s per capita water use is among the greatest in the world. Later that week, the same day Hartridge got the citation, an audit revealed that the city has lost or misplaced nearly 5,000 water meters, out of more than 100,000 it must install citywide to comply with state law.

“On one hand they’re mislaying their water meters, and on the other hand they going out and putting enforcement on people who don’t have green lawns,” Hartridge said. “And there’s water running down the gutters of my neighborhood every day.”

Food, not lawns! Seriously, this is absurd. Messed up priorities, indeed – and most of it comes from the fact that the city Code Enforcement Department doesn’t communicate with the Utilities department about water usage. Well, that and douchebag neighbors. There’s a drought, and this person goes and complains about a lawn that’s less than perfect? Unbelievable. Our freshwater resources aren’t bottomless, and someday everybody’s going to look back on all of this lawn watering with disgust and disbelief.

Furthermore, $746?!?! Sacramento needs to get their shit together. I wonder how many more cities around the nation have the same stupid, backwards laws.

Link [redOrbit]
Photo credit: Flickr user james.thompson

Virginia High School Catches 280,000 Gallons of Rainwater Annually

While many of us have yet to even install rainwater barrels outside our homes, some people are saving a dramatic amount of water with giant barrels placed outside public buildings like schools and office buildings.  The Langston Brown Community Center and High School in Arlington, Virginia has two 24-ft tall 11,000-gallon cisterns to catch and store rainwater, which capture up to 280,000 gallons per year.  One tank is located at the back of the school and the other is in front, covered with panels to make it blend in seamlessly with the building.

Schools are such a great place to deploy this kind of green technology.  It teaches the kids early on never to let resources go to waste, and makes it such a normal everyday thing that they will hopefully grow up to use these resource-saving measures in their daily lives without question.  Way to go, Langston Brown!

Link [Metaefficient]

The Eco Drop Shower Invites Pain Into Your Daily Routine

I do my best to keep my showering times to a bare minimum. I’ve even installed low-flow shower heads to reduce waste — and sometimes I throw a bucket under the shower to collect the lukewarm water for plants while it heats up. I consider myself extreme. But the new Eco Drop Shower is too much for me. It’s like graduating from kinky sex to BDSM, Little House on the Prairie to Keeping Up With The Kardashians, or dating Natalie Portman to dating Amy Winehouse.

To put it plainly, it’s hardcore.

How does it work? When you first start to shower, your feet are planted firmly on a plastic mat of sorts with embedded concentric circles. As your water usage increases, the circles slowly start to rise, making it rather uncomfortable to stand in one place for long. Manage to continue enjoying yourself, and pointy mounds will also move upwards from the center of the circles. For anyone with foot issues (warts, corns) this would start to get painful. They don’t show what happens should you somehow avoid these obstacles, but we’re thinking electricity and burning sensations are next.

I love technology that reminds us we’re nothing but a plague upon the planet, but enjoying my morning shower is one of the few pleasures (next to Wii) that I thank modern-society for providing. I think I’ll pass on the Eco Drop and just continue working my water conservation the old-fashioned way. Although it would be entertaining to have one of these installed in the guest bathroom…

via Born Rich