Sustainability Practices in Organizations: The Case of Starbucks

Sustainability Practices in Organizations: The Case of Starbucks One of the business organizations that I have been interacting with and that I have been exposed to on a regular basis is the Starbucks Corporation, which is a global coffee company and publicly presents sustainability and ethical business practices. The sustainability plan of Starbucks is developed on the basis of three key pillars such as environmental stewardship, ethical sourcing, and community impact. Starbucks has set itself the goal of minimizing its carbon footprint, water, and waste by half by the year 2030, environmentally. The major ones are the promotion of reusable cups, investments in the use of renewable energy in stores, and attempts to design greener stores by using energy efficient equipments (Starbucks, 2023). Moreover, the company obtains a large part of its coffee by its Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices which are oriented to provide environmental responsible production and good labor conditions. In spite of these, Starbucks has been accused of greenwashing, especially on the issue of cutting its wastes. Although the company advocates reusable cups and recycling schemes most of the drinks are served in single-use cups which cannot be easily recycled because of the plastic lining. Research and environmental organizations claim that the focus on the personal responsibility of consumers (e.g., carrying reusable cups) at Starbucks distracts the attention of the idea that the company continues to use disposable packaging on a global level (Hahladakis and Iacovidou, 2019). Consequently, the sustainability messages of Starbucks might exaggerate the advances in the environmental field when structural waste problems are still not properly addressed. Starbucks is more substantively engaged socially. The company has undertaken ethical sourcing which includes assisting smallholder farmers through giving farmer loans as well as paying price premiums to responsibly cultivated coffee. Employee welfare is another aspect that Starbucks strives to ensure through offering employees benefits like healthcare cover, tuition assistance and stock options to employees that have met eligibility criteria including part time employees. The company has also publicly committed itself to diversity, equity, and inclusion and has funded local development initiatives in coffee-producing areas (Starbucks, 2023). These efforts represent a wider concern of stakeholder welfare, other than profit maximization. To sum up, although Starbucks demonstrates significant activities related to social responsibility, the elements of its environmental sustainability plan are causing the concern of greenwashing. This example demonstrates the importance of the critical assessment of the corporate sustainability claims and the differentiation of the symbolic actions and the impact. References Hahladakis, J. N., & Iacovidou, E. (2019). Closing the loop on plastic packaging materials: What is quality and how does it affect their circularity? Science of the Total Environment, 630, 1394–1400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.330 Starbucks Corporation. (2023). Global environmental and social impact report. Starbucks. https://www.starbucks.com/responsibility