Starbucks

A Saturday Night In Starbucks

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Paul Rosenberg – Several years ago, an unusual set of events found me at Starbucks on a Saturday night. It had been a reasonably decent day, but there are, as we all know, plenty of things in this world to be depressed about. And those things, as we also know, are massively amplified by the attention-seeking class. Somehow, the parade of negativity had its effect on me.

Sitting in the Starbucks cured me.

What I Saw

It was a very average Starbucks in a very average location. And the very average people sitting with me were a nearly perfect cross-section of the American demographic. Continue reading →

A Visit To Starbucks

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StarbucksPaul Rosenberg – An unusual set of family events found me sitting in a Starbucks last Saturday night. It had been a reasonably decent day, but there are, as we all know, plenty of things in this world to be depressed about. And those things, as we also know, are massively amplified by the attention-seeking class. (Bad news sells.) Somehow, the parade of negativity had its effect on me.

Sitting in the Starbucks cured me.

What I Saw

It was a very average Starbucks in a very average location. And the very average people sitting with me were a near-perfect cross-section of the American demographic.

To my left was a middle-aged black man, doing something on his laptop. Just past him was a middle-aged white woman doing the same. Past her, in the corner, were three teenage girls – one black, one white, one Latin – studying something together.

Behind me was another black man with a laptop and piles of papers, and past him was a young couple falling in love over lattes. Continue reading →

5 Uses for Spent Coffee Grounds

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Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world. It’s grown in over 70 countries and amounts to over 16 billion pounds of beans every year. That’s a lot of beans… and when they’re only used once and thrown away, it also amounts to a huge amount of waste.

If you drink a lot of coffee or have worked in a coffee house, you have probably looked at the massive amount of coffee grounds being thrown away after one use and wondered, “isn’t there something these can be used for?” You’re not alone, researchers all over the world have wondered the same thing and explored the issue. The good news — spent coffee grounds DO have value! What potential uses for used coffee grounds have been found?

1. Remove Lead from Water

Researchers at Japan’s Kinki University investigated the possibility of using coffee grounds to remove lead from drinking water and found that, indeed, not only was it possible, but that it actually worked quite well. [1] The prospect of using coffee grounds, an overly abundant waste item, for a purpose as beneficial as removing lead from drinking water is an exciting idea!

2. Biodiesel Production

You may have heard of diesel vehicles being converted to run on discarded grease from fast food restaurants, wouldn’t it be great if discarded coffee grounds could also be used as a source of energy? Perhaps they can.

Continue reading →