The Big Dipper
So Starbucks has finally been hit with a dose of reality. They use water like it’s going out of style. While it IS essential to sanitize spoons and isolate spoons for allergens (like milk allergies), the simple fact remains that they have really done nothing innovative in terms of recycling and conservation. Water has been watsted in this fashion for over 17 years with no real effort made to come up with an innovative solution. Same with the paper cup. While they use a percentage of post-consumer recycled fibers in their cups, they have missed the boat once again to be the innovator by developing the compostable cup/compostable utensil technology.
If you look at the amount of waste generated by a store that goes into the landfill or down the drain, the company could be doing more and should be, if they want to survive their current predicament. BRAVO Howie! BRAVO! Your new “leadership” is working well. The waste corporately and in the front lines continues to be ignored.
There are several things to ponder about the Dipper Well.
Why does foodservice need it? Required by Health officials to keep utensils sanitary.
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=healthcare.fisher_nickel_feb_2005
Why use a Dipper Well and not Cleaning agents? Better for the environment. The amount of water used compared to the added chemicals released into our reclamation water supply.
http://www.dipwell.com/history.html
There are many ways to reuse water in a Foodservice environment. We are working with several companies in designs to reduce their water usage to maximize the energy production.
A bigger issue to focus on is the waste water from Ice Machines. Wow,
Refrigeration
Water Cooled Condensers
Unfortunately, there are many times where water is used to remove heat from the condenser of a small refrigeration system. These water-cooled condensers require a continuous stream of cold water that is subsequently dumped down the drain (see illustration). Two typical examples include water-cooled ice machines and soft-serve ice cream machines. In both cases there are air-cooled models of these appliance and it makes good sense from a water standpoint to use the air-cooled versions. For example, a moderately sized (800-pound) water-cooled ice machine will use an additional 1,300 gallons per day of water to cool the condenser, which will cost $3,200 a year. An air-cooled machine may use slightly more electricity than the water-cooled model, but unless the condenser is in an extremely hot environment (> 100°F), the difference is insignificant (about 4 kWh per day for an 800-pound machine). What’s more, in many cases, there is no difference in first cost between air-cooled and water-cooled machines!
How many foodservice establishments have this on thier roster?