Changing Starbucks’ Water Policy
Illustration by Jessica Tapia
January 29, 2020
On Jan. 13 the Starbucks on COD’s campus issued a new policy that customers now have to pay for water. The new policy was set in place by the Sodexo, the company that manages the Starbucks, to reduce the length of the lines at Starbucks along with the distribution costs.
Lynn Konicek, the Sodexo general manager, said, “The changes were made because the number of water orders had significantly increased over fall semester, and we couldn’t continue to sustain the cost of products and labor.”
Other Starbucks (run by a third party) had made changes in their water policy, and COD followed their lead. The change was issued and is being monitored by College of DuPage.
Konicek said, “The college does offer water stations throughout the campus to meet water needs.” There are water fountains placed all over the COD campus along with a few water bottle filling stations. Unlike the water fountains which provide tap water, Starbucks uses a triple-filtration process for their water. Customers can still get water at Starbucks, but it will now come with a cost.
COD student Olivia Caballero said she hopes the new policy cuts down the time spent in line for all of Starbucks paying customers.
“We have those water bottle fillers for a reason, along with water fountains and vending machines,” Caballero said. “The line is almost always out of Starbucks, so it makes sense that they’d charge for water to decrease the length of the line, especially since it’s triple-filtered, which I did not know before.”
The employees at Starbucks and the members of the Sodexo team want customers to be aware that it is required to wait in line if ordering water and that you will receive your purchase in the order it was purchased.
The costs for water are now:
$0.25 for a Tall
$0.50 for a Grande
$0.75 for a Venti
$1.00 for a Trenta
And $0.25 for any water containers you wish to have filled.
Jon Dziewinski is one of many students who were not aware Starbucks was changing its water policy.
“It’s just water,” he said. “It should be free.”
Mr. Chappy • Jan 29, 2020 at 1:38 pm
The value of water is largely underestimated and is a limited resource that needs to be managed. Recently, some restaurants have begun to charge for water (25cents to 50cents) so that customers don’t waste the water. These restaurants are then donating that revenue to the DuPage Conservation Foundation or similar charities. I would argue that Sodexo/Starbucks should do the same thing.
It is a common understanding among individuals that “its just water” and we are entitled to it, but as a society we need to rethink that state of mind. Moreover, the plastic cups that were being created everyday was despicable. So before anyone gets up in arms about not getting free water, think about the larger picture and bring a refillable bottle for the many stations positioned around campus.
Thank you for the article, Nicole.