Monday, February 16, 2009

Green coffee

And no I am not reading from a Dr. Seuss book.

I could not help starting the entry like this even though I will be writing about one more additional thing.

Yesterday I stopped by Starbucks to pick up a belated Valentine's Day gift for my mother. I have to restrain myself every time I enter a Starbucks because I have a penchant for beautiful mugs and Starbucks has great design.

I did not resist yesterday.



I have to admit that I am a sucker for things that are pretty, involve coffee, help save money and are better for the environment.

This mug is made from some percentage of recycled materials (I no longer have the cardboard piece that had the description written on it) and every time that you bring it to Starbucks for a refill they will give you ten cents off.

Granted, that's not a lot. But at the same time it is enough for me to keep this mug with me so that I can use it instead of a paper cup that will just end up in a landfill somewhere.

Starbucks is not the only company that makes going green look cool. I am an avid Apple devotee. Cool stuff is definitely something that they know about.

This morning I received my wonderful new macbook in the mail and I am absolutely in love with it! This post however is not about the computer itself but instead is about the packaging.

My mother commented when she looked at the box that the computer must be smaller. I didn't think so. Once I divested the macbook of all of the packaging (hold on for a mention on that matter) I put the new mackbook next to the old and discovered that while it was the same width it was not the same thickness. The new macbook is thinner.

However my mom brought down the package for my old macbook and sure enough it was much, much bigger. I consider that a good sign.



I noticed while I was opening my computer that the packaging while keeping my computer completely secured was the bare minimum needed. In the years since I got my first macbook Apple has obviously improved their packaging techniques and made them more efficient and greener. That's the way a company should be I think.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I found similar size reduction in regards to packaging between the original ipod touch and the new one. In fact, the updated ipod touch comes in a container that is similar in size to what they use to use for the shuffle. Apple noted at one of their presentations that it's not only green, but it saves them money; With smaller packaging they can fit more units per pallet and more pallets per truck or plane load. The capitalist in me can really get behind that kind of green thinking.

Eric said...

One of the main points of this blog is that it makes financial sense to "go green", at least in the ways we have discussed. Capitalists should be flocking to environmental action. There are business opportunities in helping others "go green" and there are monetary gains in living and doing business more responsibly.

Hey, Capitalists, come on in the waters fine!