February 25th, 2009, 17 Comments »
I recently wrote in praise of Salt Spring Island Coffee. So I was happy to patronize their charming UBC location during Northern Voice. I was a little less praiseful, though, after read the sleeve on my hot chocolate:
In case you can’t read it, here’s what it says:
This cup travelled over 2000 kilometers from the forest to your lips. Slow global warming by using a travel mug.
Here’s how I read that:
We’re entirely comfortable selling you an environmentally insensitive product, but want you to feel guilty about giving us your money. Plus, [as filmgoerjuan points out on Flickr] we’ve been unwilling or unable to find a more sustainable source for cups.
I suppose this cheeky chastisement might work with the UBC crowd, but I think it just redirects blame away from the coffee shop to the consumer.
I was going to leave a suggestion in their suggestion box, until I saw this:
17 Comments »
January 31st, 2009, 8 Comments »
A couple of weeks ago we were at the Tsawassen ferry terminal, on our way back to Victoria. Due to a mechanical problem with one of the ferries, we faced a two-hour delay in departure. Julie and I wandered into the Tsawassen Quay Market, which is kind of a mini-mall situated between the vehicle lanes at the terminal.
I poked around with my iPhone, and eventually discovered that the Salt Spring Island Coffee outlet in the market was offering an open wifi network. We scored a table, purchased cookies and coffee, and set to work. The availability of internet access transformed that two-hour period from wasted to reasonably productive.
So, just a quick public thank-you to Salt Spring Island Coffee for making some wifi free and openly available at the ferry terminal.
On the other hand, I’ve abandoned all hope of having internet access on the ferry. I can’t imagine why they don’t offer it. My back-of-the-envelope math suggests that it would become an excellent revenue source in the first couple of years.
8 Comments »
