24

Today I saved 24 milk jugs from the garbage of Starbucks. It turns out that the Starbucks in Arborland mall does not recycle. I was pretty shocked and actually horrified once I realized just how much recyclable material ends up in landfills (or who knows where) as a result. The employee who collected the milk jugs for me handed me two large bags and said that he was giving me what the store probably throws away in 4 - 5 hours.

Then I asked him if every store just throws away their recyclables. He told me that he used to work at the Starbucks downtown and they recycled everything. He seemed to think that the store's location had a lot to do with the recycling situation and he wasn't sure why recycling was less accessible at this location.

So now I am very intrigued to know who is really at fault... Ann Arbor or Starbucks? Or are they equally at fault? I need to find out more details... I know that the city doesn't pick up recyclables everywhere, but does that mean recycling services are completely unavailable? In general Ann Arbor has a reputation of having a very good recycling system, so if an Ann Arbor Starbucks is not recycling what does that mean for other Starbucks locations across the country? I am also interested to look into the corporate policy of Starbucks... Starbucks advertises fair trade coffee, some brands are supposed to be "good for the planet", the store sells reusable travel mugs (my travel mug is, in fact, from Starbucks), and they also offer a discount for using your own mug. So I found it very ironic to be looking at a new mug product which was advertised as being created from sustainable/reused materials as I waited for my 24 milk jugs to be rescued from the trash....

Here they are laid out on the studio floor after cleaning them and cutting them in half.