[Philippines] No More Smoking at Starbucks

As based on notices posted at branches nationwide, Starbucks Philippines has announced that all of their branches will become smoke-free starting June 27. This is in support of the recent MMDA push to enforce RA 9211 by banning smoking in areas like schools, hospitals and all major and secondary roads including bus terminals and waiting sheds.



Untitled by Doun Dounell via Flickr.

Naturally the announcement has been received with mixed reactions by the smokers and non-smokers everywhere, with the usual cries of outrage and how this will be the "end of Starbucks".

[Environmentalism] Coffee Conservationism

Image via WikipediaOkay, let's face it - if you're part of the working world or the highly studies school set, then you've probably bought into the specialty coffee culture, Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Figaro - you name it, you buy it. We know we're paying way too much for caffeine, but we continue to pay for it since (1) they're pretty good, (2) the number of options gets insane at times, (3) office peer pressure and (4) we're media junkies that way.

So given you're already in this culture, there's a thing or two you can do to make yourself feel a little bit better for spending more than Php 100 (or more than $3.00 depending on your location) for a cup of coffee or tea. While you won't necessarily save that much in terms of money, you will save a bit in terms of environmental impact.

Try it - they're not too hard.

The biggest one is use a personal mug. Come on, you're addicted enough to coffee for at least one thoughtful friend to have bought you a signature spill-proof mug from your favorite specialty coffee shop. You might even have more than one or worse - you may have bought one for yourself! I hope you got it from your local department store instead of the over-priced ones at the coffee shops. It's not about quality there, you're paying for the brand.

Anyway, personal mugs are great since most coffee stores offer terribly modest discounts (what can you do with Php 5.00 these days?), but it's better than nothing in these penny-pinching times. Better yet though, this means you don't waste resources in terms of all the components that go into your coffee cup - the paper or plastic cup itself, the plastic lid, and the straw or the thermal sleeve, depending on whether you bought a hot or cold drink.

If you don't own a personal mug and are having the coffee in-store, ask for a "for here" mug, or whatever its equivalent is. Stop using the paper cups and trust the ceramic ones they have (or the glass ones at Coffee Bean). They tend to be a lot of fun, they let you smell your coffee better and thus ultimately enjoy it more.

For you gardeners out there, try asking for their used coffee grounds to be used as fertilizer. Starbucks goes as far as branding them as "Grounds for your Greens" so it probably doesn't hurt to ask the other stores what they do with their used coffee grounds. Every bit counts, right?

Of course ultimately the best way to save (in more ways than one) is to cut down on your specialty coffee intake by brewing coffee at home and bringing it to work or school in a sealed thermos. The true caffeine connoisseur ought to know how to brew his or her own coffee and have the means to bring coffee or tea with them on the road. That really saves you a lot and reduces the need for all these specialty coffee shops that use up a lot of power playing cheesy jazz music, but then you've already been bitten by the culture as I established at the beginning of this entry.

Or should I say that you;'ve already "taken a drink" of this culture? Ugh, the metaphor doesn't translate well, I guess.

[Viral Video Chart] Mobile Desktop

Improv Everywhere is an amazing group who come up with some of the best pranks and live antics that can possibly found on the web. This time around they've decided to take a new spin on the whole culture of urban yuppies who bring their laptops to the nearest Wi-Fi enabled Starbucks.

This time they brought their complete desktops! Kudos to the girl still using Windows 95, LOL!


#20 - Mobile Desktop

[Web] A Refreshing Java Commentary

Go on, admit it - you've bought coffee at Starbucks at least once, buying into the mythos that surrounds the highly popular coffee franchise. Despite the long lines, the overly complicated products and the strange product offerings, we keep going back time after time.

I came across an interesting TIME Magazine article by Bill Saporito about the sorry state the coffee giant is in today in relation to an internal memo leaked to the public. In the memo, founder and chairman Howard Schultz talks about how people can no longer wake up and smell the coffee at Starbucks because of increasing automation. Saporito instead explains the real reasons the coffee experience has been lost, and does so very well.

This is an excellent read that I highly recommended to all you Geeky Guide readers out there. If you really like it, feel free to Digg the article as well. He manages to capture all of our frustrations in getting even a basic cup of coffee these days.

Photo linked from Flickr user the brothers giant's photostream.