Carbon With That Latte? Sonia Narang 07.03.07, 6:00 AM ET How
Starbucks hopes to trim its emissions footprint. In its shop in
downtown San Mateo, Calif., for instance, baristas serve up
about 40,000 cups of coffee drinks every month. Just based on
utility bills alone, that means Starbucks is serving up about
4,900 pounds of carbon with its drinks--or about two ounces per
cup. Starbucks executives say they are looking for ways to trim
those carbon emissions. But they are reluctant to say just how
much Starbucks' worldwide carbon footprint is--and how it has
changed over the past few years. Starbucks has calculated the
carbon footprint of its North American locations only once, in
2003. Since then, its number of U.S. company-owned stores has
almost doubled to 6,281. Its international company-owned
locations, also left out of the calculation, now number more
than 1,500. "Although we have grown in size, the nature of our
business remains the same--the operation of retail stores and
roasting coffee," says Jim Hann