Cutting Coffee Cups Out of My Life

Allegro HOT drink discount is in place...

2008-03-14T11:42:00.003+08:00

On March 13, Allegro started discounting the hot drinks (coffee and tea) for customers who provided their own mug. Last week, March 3-7, about 10 customers provided their own mug each day. This accounted for only 10% of Allegro's total hot drink sales. It will be interesting to see how much this percentage will increase over the next few weeks.

I have received many lovely emails from coworkers who are in full support of this action. Several have even told me that they are only buying coffee when they have their own mug. It seems that there has been some confusion, however. Please remember the purpose of this action is to reduce the amount of waste produced by ISM community. Allegro has agreed offer a 3 peso discount on all HOT drinks. A group of high school students are in the process of working with Allegro to reduce the waste produced by the cold drinks. It is important to remember that with all change, it takes time. I'm sure that there will be some "kinks to iron out" in the system, but please be patient with the Allegro staff.

Thanks to all of you who have joined this campaign. Together, change can happen!

Word on the Street...

2008-03-11T06:48:00.002+08:00

Allegro is not starting the discount for bringing your own mug until next week. Remember that saving a few pesos on a cup of coffee or tea is just an added incentive. The major benefits of using your own mug is to reduce the amount of waste produced at ISM, be a postitive role model to our students, and to help our environment!

Wow...things are happening!

2008-03-06T18:43:00.002+08:00

Making the choice to change one small part of my lifestyle has already had positive benefits. Not only am I doing my part do decrease the amount of waste that is produced, but am also motivating other people to make small changes to their lifestyle as well. So exciting!

Several people have started to hear about this action, as well as the actions of other grade 5 teachers and students at ISM. It is so exciting to know that this blog is getting passed around for people to view. I just hope the readers, will consider making a small change to their lifestyle that will positively impact the environment.

This week I found out that some high school students are campaigning to have all drinks served in the canteen to be in reusable cups. Be on the look out for these ad campaigns.

I am so glad that Allegro is on board with my plan and is helping to make positive change. Delifrance....watch out, I will be coming to speak to you next!

Teachers of ISM, if we want to have our student "be green" the adults in their life should model this as well.

Great News!

2008-03-04T18:50:00.002+08:00

Today, I found out that Allegro will begin to offer a 3 peso discount on coffee if the customer provides his/her own mug! Since this will create a problem with easily making change, customers who bring their own mug will be offered a coupon. Coupons can be collected and used towards a larger purchase. I will need to let the ISM community know about this promotion and the importance of reducing waste. I hope I convince others to do this to help the environment.

Gathering Data...

2008-03-03T18:45:00.000+08:00

This week I am asking for the staff at Allegro to keep track of the number of customers that actually bring their own mug. I don't think it will be very many. When I am at Allegro I notice that most people use the paper cups provided. Hopefully, I will be able to convince others to change their habits!

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

2008-02-28T22:01:00.000+08:00

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?

2008-02-27T22:47:00.000+08:00

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.

It will reduce the waste produced at ISM.
His company will not have to purchase as many paper coffee cups.
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

2008-02-27T11:34:00.000+08:00

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

2008-02-26T19:54:00.000+08:00

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.