Look at this...

[supersurgilator]

And to think they are uptight about our toploaders. What do you all think?

 

[ronhic]

OMG!!!

That is disgraceful....

Though we don't have to worry about Starbucks wasting our water...

They have closed over 90% of their Australian stores....yet we are drinking more and more coffee....

Go figure........

 

[maytagbear]

When I have a choice,

I go anywhere BUT Starbucks.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[rp2813]

Lawrence and I are on the same page with this one. My first choice is an independent local roaster, then Peet's, the Bay Area company that was already an institution long before Starbucks ever existed. I have never voluntarily patronized a Starbucks on my own. For me the only times I am in a SB is because I'm with someone else who wanted to go there.

Everybody should avoid Starbucks. They have become a blight on the global streetscape. It's easy for me because I like my coffee just plain black and fresh, so I make it at home with beans from the local roaster. Adding cream and sugar and all that other fruffy frothy nonsense just ruins a good cup of coffee anyway IMO. For me, the purpose of adding cream and sugar is to try and make a horribly bad cup of coffee taste like something else.

 

[spankomatic]

What if they turned those off ? Ewwwah! The silverware then sitting in muck and bacteria....

Many restaurants have these devises. Why did they go to Starbucks and not Baskin and Robins 31 flavors? Scoop of chocolate chip please. Yes,use that scooper that is sitting in the mucky bucket of water over there with the water turned off. Yum Yum!

 

[qsd-dan]

I remember seeing these devices perpetually running in every Thrify's ice cream department of the 80's and 90's. I'm sure they go back much further than the 80's. It's waste, but there aren't many other viable alternatives in keeping the utensils relatively clean and bacteria free.

 

[rp2813]

The Thrifty near us that became a Rite Aid still has the ice cream counter. The spigot there is on a very slow trickle and there have never been any health and safety code issues. Besides, I love to hate Starbucks!

 

[revvinkevin]

Not just Thrifty's and Baskin Robbins, but ALL ice cream stores or ice cream counters that hand scoops ice cream has those things with the water trickling away all day long.

 

[autowasherfreak]

Whitey's Ice Cream Shop has those things running all the time. What a waste of water.

 

[jamiel]

the issue is that scoop shops have purpose-built dipwells (with small spigots/drains) that use an optimized/minimum amount of water to insure hygiene, where Sbux just uses lets the faucet flow without any sort of optimization

 

[jmm63]

I hate to defend Starbucks, but that video is ridiculous. If you have ever worked in or managed a food service environment, you would know the importance of the "Dipper Well". It doesn;t matter what your serving, those things serve an important purpose. Most health departments require them. Perhaps the person shooting that video would be happier with a case of food poisoning

 

[kenwashesmonday]

Indeed. If they shut the water off the health department will shut them down.

The do seem to have the water running faster than needed though.

Ken

 

[toggleswitch2]

~When I have a choice, I go anywhere BUT Starbucks.

Oh I definitely GO in Starbucks. In the city I use Starbucks for their restrooms while in the field.

Can't stand the hipster snooty snobs in there and would never pay $5 for a cup of bitter coffee.

 

[whirlcool]

Read the comments about the video on the youtube page, just disgraceful.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Star*ucks

I tend to get a lot of Dunkin Donuts and some Star*ucks gift cards from my kids' parents at holiday time or as an end-of-the-year thank you. Problem is, I don't like coffee (GASP!!!)! Can't even eat mocha desserts. And from what I've heard from many, the Star*ucks coffee isn't all that good anyway.

At least at Dunkin's, I can get a hot chocolate and maybe a bagel (not that they ever get the order right, but that's another thread). I used a Star*ucks card to get a hot chocolate there, and it was one of the yuckiest h.c.'s I've ever had! It was weak, lacking any depth of flavor, and on par with that new McDonald's Cafe h.c. which is nothing more than a few squirts of chocolate syrup and some warm milk.

I thought I was in pretty good shape when I re-gifted a Star*ucks card to my UPS guy this year. However, one of my parents gave me another one worth more!

Chuck

 

[rp2813]

OK Chuck, I have to ask. How did a guy who doesn't like coffee end up with a handle like "perc-o-prince?"

Ralph

 

[perc-o-prince]

Ralph

My better half chose it. He joined the site and I kinda tagged along!!!

Chuck

 

[gansky1]

Have you ever been to a food market in a third-world country? There are sensible uses for potable water, even if it seems decadent and wasteful. Until a safer, more green alternative is found, we'll have to put our faith in the hydrologic cycle.

I'm not a coffee drinker so the thought of paying $4 for cup of it seems entirely absurd. There was a very popular, locally owned coffee shop very near me that was pushed out of business by a greedy landlord and this company with a complete lack of scruples.

http://en.wikivisual.com/images/9/94/Water_cycle.png

 

[rp2813]

Hey Chuck, thanks for the info. I can relate to being tagged with nicknames you didn't ask for.

Ralph

 

[neptunebob]

Could they have like a rack in the sink where they could put the scoops and then have like a rinser sprayer like at home, so they could squirt them off once is a while rather than have to have the utensils in the dirty water all the time? Seems to be less wasteful to me, but is it possible?

 

[ronhic]

bacteria.....

...doesn't 'instantly bloom' just because a utensil has been used.

The majority of coffee shops here (I hesitate to say 'ALL') don't use the 'running water system' that is shown on the clip. Most have a jug of water that spoons etc are put into or are left in the milk frothing jug while it is in use.

Now keep in mind that the majority of coffee shops seem to have their espresso machines fairly humming these days, there is little opportunity for bacteria to grow in such a constant use environment.

I would suggest that if food poisoning was going to occur, it won't be because of the spoon in the milk jug or scoop in water, but more poor handling practices such as

- Milk not refrigerated appropriately
- Food not kept cool/hot enough
- Money and then food being handled
- Food cutting surfaces not sufficiently cleaned and causing cross contamination.

I can not think of a case of upset stomach that i could point to a cafe or coffee shop when I have had a coffee or icecream...

...now chicken, on the other hand....I can tell stories about that.

 

[shanonabc]

I used to work at McDonalds McCafe.

We managed to keep our utensils clean without that much water.

Every hour on the hour passed through commercial dishwasher & sterilised. After every use flushed under boiling water.

 

[jetcone]

When I was bartending

we had a double well system for the drink utensils, one well had nonsudsing soap/disinfectant the second was rinse water. It worked for the 20 years I tended bar, I would change the rinse water about once or twice every shift unless I spilt the blender full of margaritas. THAT WAS MESSY! or like when I broke a bottle of Kahlua all over the mechanical register! It took them 3 months to get it cleaned out and working again!
But I digress.
We must all believe in the Hydrolic Cycle as Greg says. I always thought it was such a waste using fresh water for the toilets in this country, we should plumb them with sea water along the coasts, maybe with PVC we could even pump sea water out to Omaha too for the toilets there.