[Glyn H]

Some of you will remember that when I defended the use of WFP at DEFRA meetings across the South East of England during the supposed drought a couple of yearrs ago.
 I used Coca Cola and Starbucks as examples of far bigger users/ wasters of water.
 An investigative  report has now proved my point.
Remember this report for the next time they try to stop us cleaning windows!

"Starbucks has today been accused of wasting more than 23 million litres of water every day.
The coffee chain, which prides itself on being green, has a health and safety policy of leaving taps running in all of its 10,000 branches worldwide it has been revealed today.

The company policy prohibits staff from turning off a cold tap behind the counter called a 'dipper well'.

This means that Starbucks is wasting roughly 23.4 million litres of water on a daily basis. That's enough water to quench the thirst of the entire population of drought-stricken Namibia.

In Britain where there are just fewer than 700 branches of the coffee shop, 1.6 million litres are wasted every day.

Starbucks bosses claim that the flow of water stops germs from festering in the taps.

Peter Robinson of environmental charity Waste Water told The Sun: "Leaving taps running all day is a shocking waste of precious water. And to claim you are doing it for health and safety reasons is bonkers."

 

[Chris Galloway]

No wonder my "hazelnut skinny latte with vanilla powder" cost so much!    Its not the cost of "fair trade coffee beans" its the bloody water bill.

Still it is nice

[windowwashers]

We will use that if anyone asks about the amount of water we are wasting 

[Dean Aspects]

No one has ever commented to me about how much water i use but if they do i can now give a reply to waste that amount of water every day is unbelieveable that must be more than every wfp operator in Britain put together

[Sir Squeaky]

No wonder my "hazelnut skinny latte with vanilla powder" cost so much! 

You don't like real coffee then?

[drwindows]

if it helps them make deicious coffe then its not a waste!

just kidding its pretty shocking really

[simon knight]

Anybody who goes to Starbucks, Caffe Nero, Coffee Republic etc and pays around £3 for a cup of coffee must need his bleeding head examining!

[alanwilson]

average wfp'er uses 300ltrs a day - takes 4 times this to make the water = 1200ltrs/day.

assuming there are 1000 wfp operators in the UK (there could be 100,000 for all I know) but assuming 1000 anyway = 1.2million ltrs a day.

we must use as much as they do.

[Chris Galloway]

No wonder my "hazelnut skinny latte with vanilla powder" cost so much!

You don't like real coffee then?

Yeah, buts the skinny latte one of life's luxuries (and i dont pay for it - the missus does)

Im always having caffetier coffee at home, tastes so much nicer than instant 

[Ian_Giles]

Stay on the topic of water wastage, I think it's a very pertinent topic, so don't spoil it by wittering on about latte coffees and the like!

Alan is about right too I think, although I'd reckon on a tad less total water usage, say...1000l a day max (some more, some less I know) Oh, and 5 days a week and not seven!
And there are a [couple?] thousand businesses (presumably) using WFP far, far more of us than there are of them! Meaning that their wastage per shop is shockingly high.

Actually, thinking it through, our wastage is less than 1200l isn't it? Going by Alan's figures it would be 900l the rest is the business end.
And even our 'waste' water isn't really waste, it's what it  takes to actually produce the pure water we use to clean windows with. Whereas the waste of Starbucks truly is waste.
Oh, and talking of hygiene, have you seen the blue cloth that many of these coffee shops use to wipe down the steamer with?
How hygienic is that! That spout is dipped into every cup of coffee and then wiped with the same cloth afterwards!!!!

Ian

[matt]

average wfp'er uses 300ltrs a day - takes 4 times this to make the water = 1200ltrs/day.

thats a shocking RO you have then

mine comes out at 1.5 L waste to 1 L pure, i know ive checked it out

[Mr H]

Then there are those of us who do NOT use an RO...... so no waste....

I can now tell my customers (if they ever ask) that I use less water per day to do my round than StarbERks use per day to dip a coffee cup in....

Regards
Mr H

P.S... Thanks for the info Glyn....

[wightsurf]

i Thought that most ro units run at 50/50

[Glyn H]

The whole point was they waste 1.6 million litres a day in the UK by letting it run down the drains.

The water companies tried to ban window cleaning because of its water usage - They didnt dare try to ban Coca cola manufacturing soft drinks or Starbucks brewing coffee.

[poleman]

Well if it ever looks like a ban could ever happen...build a rain harvest and beat the bad! 

[Jeff Brimble]

That wont work if they ban the complete use of wfp as they threatened last time. (But as a rain warrior I would personally carry on)

Cheers Glyn for keeping up with it 

[alanwilson]

a few good points there - my problem with the eco-warrier parade is that people view it as waste, however, look at the vast amount of rain we get every year - look at just how much is wasted by the water companies - then you'll see that what we use is really nothing.