How many hot drinks are sold in a week at Allegro?

Robert provided me with the data for the number of coffees sold during the week of February 18-22. Check out the information HERE! On Monday, the workers at Allegro are going to keep track of the number of coffee sold that are served in reusable containers. With this information, I will be able to see the results of my action plan. Hopefully, the manager of Allegro will agree to offer a discount incentive to encourage cutomers to use reusable mugs.

Can I persuade others to join this campaign?

Today, I interviewed the manager of Allegro, the coffee shop located on ISM's campus. Allegro is a hot spot for teachers, parents, and students to get their daily dose of coffee, cold drinks, and snacks. The purpose of this meeting was to find out the amount of coffee that is consumed each day by the ISM community. Robert was unable to give me the data today but promised that he could have this data ready for me later in the week.

I know that Starbuck's encourages customers to have their drinks served in their mugs or a travel mug by offering a 5 peso discount. If Starbuck's can do this why can't Allegro. During my meeting with Robert I asked him if this was something that Allegro would be willing to do. He LOVED the idea and is going to ask his boss if this is something that can be started at ISM. Robert wants to implement this plan for several reasons.

1. It will reduce the waste produced at ISM.
2. His company will not have to purchase as many paper coffee cups.
3. It will be easier to know the customer's order because of personal coffee mugs.

Robert felt pretty confident that he will have an answer by next week. I will keep you posted!

My Personal Pledge

During this unit I learned the humans are producing too much waste. This is mostly due to over consumption.

For my action plan, I am going to only buy coffee from a coffee shop when I have my own mug to use. Every time I buy coffee, I use a paper cup and a plastic lid. I recycle these containers but it will be better if I don't use them at all. I actually found some people who feel the same way. There is a website that calculates the waste that is produced by drinking coffee. Check it out here! I also found a website whose mission was to get people to use reusable cups at coffee shops. Did you know that if 1000 people would save 1 cup a day it would reduce waste by 11 tons per year!! Have a look This evidence shows that my personal actioin is one that can really help the environment. I can't wait to start making a difference!

Taking Action

My grade five students have just finished a unit of inquiry called, Why Should I care about the Environment? During this unit the students looked at the following questions.

• What is sustainability?
• What are the factors that contribute to current environmental issues?
• How do humans impact the environment?
• What role do I play in creating a sustainable environment?

The students are now in the 'taking action' part of the inquiry process and have analyzed the daily choices that they make, along with the effects to the environment. Some students are looking at conserving water or electricity, while others are looking at reducing, reusing, and recycling.
Over the next 2 weeks students will be implementing their action plans and documenting evidence of change. The goal will be for each student to be able to prove that they positively affected the environment by making slight changes to their daily routines. Sign up for this blog so you can see my very own action plan in place.