Last year, our coffee shop on campus started selling fair trade coffee in addition to the "regular" coffee. I try to limit my coffee-drinking, so I only occasionally indulge (plus there are other shops I frequent more often). The fair trade stuff costs more, so I got used to telling the cashier "fair trade" when she (usually she) asked what I had.
This morning I had just enough time to get coffee before my morning meeting. Armed with my cool travel mug (reusable!), I filled up with the fair trade stuff, went to the cashier, and automatically said "it's fair trade".
"Oh", she replied, "it's all fair trade now."
Wow. I hadn't even noticed.
Turns out that after the fair trade stuff was introduced, there was a huge demand for it. No one bought the "regular" stuff anymore. So they decided to go completely fair trade.
Ianqui has written quite a bit lately about her own attempts to reduce/reuse/recycle/live greener, and at one point
Now, if I can only get my neighbors to stop throwing trash on my lawn....and stop using so many chemicals in their yards.....
3 comments:
What a great story! I find that really heartening.
(FYI: the relevant post was actually a controversial post at The Oil Drum, but I stick by it...)
Where is this lovely coffee shop? We're trying to make the same thing happen at USC in Los Angeles -- no easy task, as most of the coffee is from Starbucks --
Thanks, Ianqui! I'll fix the link so that it points to the right place.
Siel, I'd tell you where this is, but that would sort of ruin the whole anonymity thing. :) We weren't fighting the Starbucks factor though, so that might have made things easier---but I don't know, because we seem to have a pretty socially conscious student body here. Anyway, good luck in your quest!
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