The Green Siren

As a Barista at a Starbucks in suburban Las Vegas, I’ve taken on the task of keeping track of myself- not rigidly, but keeping an eye on myself if you will as to how much I consume at work.  We’ve all heard about the waste problems that go along with big companies, and I’m interested in taking a first-hand look at what it’s like to work at a coffee shop that bustles all morning and all afternoon, while trying to retain an environmental conscience.  Actually, it’s not the environmental conscience that’s the problem.  It’s the environmental actionism that is.  I’ve known my actions are a problem, insofar as you subscribe to the mindset that your contribution, while small, still makes a huge difference.  I’ve known this for a long time now and in a lot of different capacities, many of which I’m sure I’ll delve into over the course of this experiment. 

I plan to create a separate blog for this, but it’s been a busy week and I’ve got a big weekend coming up and I’d love to send myself off with the success of posting my first entries of this experiment.  Please forgive the informal nature of it at the moment, but this is a little taste of my thoughts of the matter.

What does it take to change?

People often start food journals as a way to help them maintain their diets.  I could do something like that.  The problem, you see, is I’m a Starbucks junkie.  Oh, yes.  Another one of those.  And the thing is, I not only am aware of it and want to change, I still give in every single day.  ‘Today, I’m not going to drink any drinks except those I put into my personal cup.’  I think the closest I’ve gotten to that goal thus far is one drink, and that’s because I only worked a four hour shift, which was pretty much rush after rush so I didn’t have time for many drinks.  I did fill my personal cup with iced coffee on my break, and I did snag a tall cup and fill it with leftovers of a Caffe Vanilla Frappuccino, my favorite kind.

So, like a food journal I’m going to keep a Starbucks journal.  I’ve already started collecting Starbucks cards that people don’t want anymore, with the intent of using them in art pieces.  Not quite sure how yet, but they’re better sitting in my tin of artsy crafts than in the heaps of garbage I haul out to the back dumpster every day.  I told a few Baristas and they too started collecting their zero balance Starbucks cards and giving them to me every day.  And doing that got me thinking, there’s so much more we can do, and really, it’s up to us as the Baristas and shifts on the floor to start making a positive environmental impact, as well as the customers.  So how do we do this?  How do I, as someone who has learned to care deeply for the Earth and has embraced her inner nature child, try to protect the earth while still working for a company that by the very nature of its size puts a lot of wear and tear on the planet? 

Putting aside the prospect of getting another job for now, as I’ll be sure to shed light on the battles as the project unfolds, while I have this job I want to keep track of the impact I see myself make every day.  Used three cups today for two soy drinks and some frappuccino, had to throw away four incorrect drinks, etc.  Just to see.  And where can I do better, by improving my skills as a barista, my control over my impulses, and my habits?  What in fact are these habits of mine?  I want to learn, because I want to do better.  And just wanting to do better hasn’t been enough to make the improvements I see myself capable of…realistically.

So, I’m taking tabs on myself. 

And I’m probably going to get angry.  And sound like a hypocrite, and a bleeding heart, and a lunatic.  But I’m a person, an emotional and intellectual person with opinions and desires.  I’m looking for the truth, a real and honest look at what this job means to me.  I’ve come to love it already; I get to see people smile as they feed their addictions, feed them when they’re hungry, hear their stories, day after day.  I hang out with people, sweat a little and stress a little when I can’t remember all the drinks by heart and when there’s a line of cups weaving around the bar, but when I do remember how much milk we go through every day and the factory farming that perpetuates, but it’s okay.  Right?  Some of it’s okay.  Some of it, not so okay.  I’ll judge it, and guess what, I’ll probably still give into it, then complain about it.  But that’s life, and things can change.  Can’t they?

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