Just west of Madison Square in the pedestrian mall between 5th and Broadway (23rd/24th). Full cups of Starbucks coffee in various shades from white to dark brown cover the plaza the length of a city block. 20,000 cups of coffee to be close to exact. The display is part of a Starbucks awareness promotion to alert us caffeine junkies of how much waste we are producing and to encourage the use of travel mugs. Employees from around the city collected the cups over the past few days, many in exchange for a reusable tumbler. The final pattern of the display will resemble a redwood tree, and be featured in a pre-Earth Day commercial. A Starbucks rep on site says when the installation is broken down the cups will be recycled "guaranteed".
While this may be a compelling PR stunt, it begs the question of is Starbucks really committed to the environment or just trying to sell plastic mugs? While my favorite local java shop "Think Coffee" uses compost ready cups, sleeves, napkins and utensils, I haven't even seen a recycling bin at Starbucks. Perhaps this installation can serve to shine a light on how the world's largest java merchant can make itself more eco-friendly.
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Perhaps we can do this here in Sarasota at City Island (recently renamed Google Island).
ReplyDeleteYeah right, save our Earth. Reuse and recycle.
ReplyDeletewhoa! what a post!
ReplyDelete