Starbucks Shared Planet

A Starbucks Shared Planet

Two of my favorite things in the world have been brought together by Starbucks Shared Planet:  coffee and environmental conservation.  I first learned about the Shared Planet program when I was casually perusing the shelves while awaiting my latte.  A group of travel mugs, created with over 25% recycled material, were displayed as a way to reduce paper cup consumption.  I was told to go to www.starbucks/sharedplanet to learn more.

And learn more, I did.

Starbucks describes Shared Planet as:

“It’s our commitment to doing business in ways that are good to the earth and to each other. From the way we buy our coffee, to minimizing our environmental footprint, to being involved in local communities. It’s doing things the way we always have. And it’s using our size for good. And because you support us, Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ is what you are a part of too.”

There are three elements to Starbucks’s Shared Planet program:

• ethical sourcing (100% of coffee offered at Starbucks will be fair trade certified)
• environmental stewardship (raising awareness and taking responsibility for minimizing carbon footprints and slowing global climate change)
• community involvement (encouraging employees, partners and customers to join together to make a difference – for example, rebuilding New Orleans)

Starbucks Shared Planet program to save the environment

Did you know that Starbucks is Fair Trade’s largest buyer?  The coffee giant has partnered with Conservation International (CI) for over a decade to promote farming practices that are beneficial to farmer, buyer and Mother Earth.  From an environmental standpoint, more than 200,000 trees have been saved as a result of Starbucks’s use of recyclable materials in its cups.  Recently, the corporation opened a LEED-certified coffee roasting facility in South Carolina, bringing 100 new jobs to the community.

The program appears to be a natural outgrowth of Starbucks(red):

The interactive Starbucks Shared Planet site allows visitors to pledge to bring in their own mugs, and to share, vote and comment on ideas to make the world a better place.  You can also sign up for V2V, which brings volunteers together online.

Leveraging its huge following of coffee drinkers to create a global community is genius.  In fact, Starbucks now claims, “Its bigger than coffee.”  Can you imagine if more corporations followed Starbucks’s lead?  All the small efforts of many of us can certainly add up to something big.

I’m now part of the Shared Planet movement.  What will you do to contribute?