Trying a Local Coffee Shop

A Serious Coffee just opened in our neighbourhood!! It's a 3 minute walk from our house. Soooo close! Sooo convenient. More or less. So I am going to try them this week (May 27-May 31) and see how it goes. I already miss my Starbucks but... change can be hard and painful and... I am going to give it my best shot!

Serious Coffee is a local roastery based out of Duncan. Each location is a franchise so is independently owned and operated. Support Local! Buy Local!

They had their Grand Opening on Thursday last week and I walked in and had a look around and promised I would be back. So here I am.

The Good

Local - yep, definitely local. So I am supporting a local business. Theoretically. I am not sure who actually owns this franchise. It would be some rich tycoon who lives in Vancouver.

Walkable - I've never lived so close to a coffee shop. So being able to walk here in the mornings is a definite bonus.

Wifi - they are piggy-backing on the next-door restaurant's wifi. Which, according to my phone is 200 Mbps. So that is good wifi.

Seating - lots and lots of seating, with a couple of booths and a long banquette... with cushioning!

Electrical Outlets - They have at least 2 outlets so I can sit here and plug in my aging, tottering laptop (8 years old) with it's failing (failed) battery).

The Bad

Working out the Kinks - the credit card terminal was hiccuping this morning and the server didn't know how to fix it.

New Staff - the server couldn't find "tea" on the terminal and was going to charge me $4.50 for a small tea, even though the wall menu says "Loose Tea" is $3.39. I ended up paying cash so she calculated the advertised price. But still... that price is MORE expensive than a small Starbucks tea. But... I am supporting local. Yay.

Chai Tea Syrup - even though the wall menu says "loose tea", which to my mind means loose leaf tea, what I received in my cup was sweetened which makes me think the server made my tea out of the chai tea latte syrup. I've had this happen in another coffee shop. And I could see the server mixing up something with water in a little container. I will have to double-check what is going on tomorrow when I come again.

The Meh

Opening Hours - their opening hours are... meh. 7 am to 7 pm is not bad. I really like the earlier hours that Starbucks has - 5:30 or 6:00 am. But I am trying to make the 7 am work for me. Get up, have breakfast, then head out to do my thing at the coffee shop. We'll see... If I get up super early, I could also go for an early walk, have breakfast and then come here! We'll see...

Growing Pains

It is a new location, with new staff. They are still getting the kinks worked out and I understand that. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

On the plus side... I am trying a local coffee shop! And not going to Starbucks and supporting a global mega-corporation. Small steps... I am committing to this week and we'll see how it goes.

Breaking Up with Starbucks: Embracing the Local Coffee Scene

Readers of this blog will know that I have a love/hate relationship with Starbucks.

Things I love:

• Free wifi and electrical outlets
• Opens early! Most open by 5:30 or 6:00 am
• A coffee shop vibe where I can block out the world and focus on some work
• The baristas mostly know me. They know what I drink and have it punched in before I even get from the door to the till. We chat. Even though it’s a big corporate giant and some people think it is uber anonymous… become a regular there and they staff do get to know you.

Things I hate:

• Expensive - $3 for a tea??
• Corporate giant that isn’t the best
• As they renovate their locations, they are reducing seating which makes it harder to get a spot
• a 45 minute walk or a 8 minute drive... every day... spewing carbon fumes

I have tried other places. Really, I have. I tried a local coffee shop once and it was horrible. Sterile. Crappy tea. No outlets. Didn’t feel welcome. I’ve tried McDonald’s (I know… also a corporate giant). But it had erratic opening hours and while the tea was half the price of Starbucks… the vibe was off.

A few weeks ago, I was visiting my Mom in a small town. They have a Starbucks (yay!) but it’s in a grocery store and… while they had basic seating pre-Covid, that all changed during and after Covid… they now have zero seating. Buy your uber-expensive drink and take it with you.

Buy Local

But this morning… I am at one of the local coffee shops in my Mom's town. And no, it is not Tim Horton’s, although that is nearby. This coffee shop is cute. I last came here years ago. Not much has changed, except the faces behind the counter. They have varied seating – tables and chairs. Some bar stools at counters and a few comfy areas (couch). There’s even a bookshelf with books to read. And local artwork on the walls. It’s got a nice vibe with indirect lighting and relaxing instrumental music. They sell various drinks and bakery items as well as lunch things. The only negative is… they only open at 7 am. Which is kind of late for my blogging tastes but… you know what… when in Rome…

Here’s what I Love:

• A tea is $2.50... not bad
• They have electrical outlets (yay)!
• Nobody has barked at me for setting up my laptop – mind you, the place is not screamingly busy at this hour of the day. A lot of people come in for take-out. Heck, I even chatted with an old school-mate (we’ve known each other since Grade 3!).
• They asked if my tea was for  here or to-go and when I said “here”, I got my tea in a ceramic mug. Excellent.

Here’s What I Hate:

• I’m not sure if they have free wifi. There is a wifi network but it is secured. Online reviews say there is free wifi here but… I don’t see any signs with the wifi password. So I’d have to ask. And I hate asking. Sigh.

But on the whole… this is a very nice, very civilized coffee shop. I have made adjustments to my normal work pattern and am writing my blogs in a Word document. I can then copy and paste them later when I am reconnected to wifi. There is something about the coffee shop vibe that just works for me.

The other thing that I like here is… the owners are Asian, possibly Korean. I hear some accents. But what is cool is… I see all these older “red-neck” men coming in and they are all happily chit-chatting with the staff. “How was your weekend? Did you see the northern lights?” There is something refreshing and reassuring about small-town folk. Friendly. Welcoming. Open.

Now… all of this is leading up to… a new coffee shop is opening up just down the street from our house back home. I can actually walk there in 3 minutes or less. Will it be my new hang-out spot? Will they have electrical outlets? Free wifi? Cheap(ish) tea? And most importantly… what time will they open their doors? That is the burning question. Can I actually kick my Starbucks habit? Or will I just turn it into a new habit?

As the summer approaches and the sun rises earlier and earlier… I also realize that I could get up at 5 am and go for a nice long hike, come home, have breakfast and then go to the coffee shop. It would require me to alter my schedule but… is that such a bad thing? It might work. I will have to try it and report back.

Starbucks Unwrapped: Delving into the World of Factory-Made Bakery Delights

Brownie on wheels... how far does it come?

I'm up super early most mornings and usually zip off to Starbucks for 5:30 am. Yep, they are open early! Most of them. I grab my tea and unpack my office gear at a table and start happily blogging or writing or organizing my to-do list. Until the delivery guys come.

The Gordon Foods delivery trucks usually arrive shortly after the cafe opens and they trundle in mountains of boxes and oodles of milk jug crates. A lot of the delivery drivers like to leave the doors of the store open, because it's more convenient for them. But there can be loooonnnggg gaps while they are in the back, unloading things into the refrigerators, or in their truck, loading stuff up on the hand-cart... while I am sitting there, freezing my knees off.

Then come the boxes of soy milk, coconut milk, oat milk and yak milk (kidding on that last one).

A delivery of food boxes at Starbucks

Plus many, many boxes of baked goods. Croissants, breakfast sandwiches, brownies - all in cardboard boxes. 

Which got me thinking... as I sat there, shivering... exactly where do these tasty things come from?

It's quite unlikely that they come from a local bakery. If you walk into a Starbucks in Vancouver or London or Bangkok and order a double-chocolate brownie... odds are the brownie will look and taste identical. Sooo where do they come from?

I actually emailed Starbucks to ask them and got some standard boiler-plate email which basically said nothing. Apparently it's a proprietary secret. So I did some more digging...

Ready? Brace yourself. Cause it's not pretty.

Tracking the Brownie

There's my brownie!!
(Well, a demo version of it...)

Let's backtrack first... So there's that chocolate brownie sitting in the Starbucks display case. It used to be that Starbucks had several of each item displayed. So you might see 5 brownies sitting there, and 5 coffee cake slices, etc. But those days are gone, at least in our Starbucks. Nowadays, in order to reduce food waste, I only see a "demo" brownie in the display case (along with other single bakery items). And the breakfast sandwiches don't have demo models (can you imagine... that sitting out all day??).

That single brownie is for display purposes only. It is never sold but tossed at the end of the day. Apparently the food in the display case smells quite funky and sour by the end of the day soooo, no... you don't want to eat that brownie. (Newsweek article on barsitas cleaning out the display case - don't even get me started on this...)

So, you order your brownie, and the barista will reach into an under-the-counter cooler and pull it out. It is individually wrapped in plastic and she/he will then unwrap it, put it on a piece of paper and heat it in the oven for 20 seconds (ALWAYS get your brownie warmed up - sooooo much better) They will then toss that little piece of paper as they slip the brownie into a little paper bag for you (or a plate if you ask for it). Yes, I know... that's three disposable wrappers... ugh.

Baskets of individually wrapped sandwiches &
baked goods at Starbucks.

So how did the brownie get into the behind-the-counter cooler? Well, in the mornings (bright and early), the baristas re-fill the behind-the-counter coolers from the big freezers behind the scenes. They have yellow plastic trays and they will pull out all of the baked goods that they think they will need - 10 of this, 12 of this, 12 of that. Those yellow plastic trays might sit out for a bit, possibly thawing. And how did they get into the behind-the-scenes freezers? From those cardboard boxes that Gordon Foods delivers.

Now the trail gets murky... Gordon Foods gets them from somewhere. But where? This is where some internet research yielded the answer...

Your chocolate brownie, or breakfast sandwich or lemon loaf cake are all made in a massive factory by a Canadian company called Premium Brands. Where is this factory? Could be in Columbus (OH), Reno (NV) or Phoenix (AZ). Here in Canada... it could be Edmonton or Montreal. Does it matter? Not really... it's certainly NOT a 100 mile diet for most of us - unless you live in Edmonton or Montreal.

From a Premium Brands Factory to a Starbucks near You

So here's how it goes down... roughly... the chocolate brownie or egg breakfast sandwich gets cooked in this factory... 100s of them... 1000s of them... a whole long conga line of brownies and breakfast sandwiches. Which come toddling off the assembly line quick frozen and tucked into individual plastic wrappers. They come with an expiry date (6 months into the future - they are frozen after all) and are packed up in boxes. These boxes are bundled up and shipped off to Starbucks cafes around the country. Shipped via train, truck or plane? Don't know.

But the baked goods are frozen... so the expiry date is good, right? Well, as long as the temperature stays constant for the entire trip... as they get trundled from factory to loading dock and on to a truck... which has a good refrigeration system... and then unloaded or reloaded somewhere else (several times perhaps)... until finally, they arrive through the door with Gordon Foods.

A Starbucks breakfast sandwich in it's wrapper.
(From CNN)

Have those boxes remained frozen for the entire time? No idea. Maybe not a big deal for my chocolate brownie... maybe a bigger deal for your egg & sausage breakfast sandwich. Some Reddit folks have spotted entire boxes of baked goods tossed in the trash behind Starbucks. Perhaps they arrived thawed instead of frozen?

I will tell you this... those boxes sit on the floor at Starbucks for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on how busy it is in the store. And then they go into a freezer... to be pulled out days, weeks, months (?) later and thawed, reheated and served to you.

What happens to the unsold, thawed items? Well, for my local Starbucks, they bag them up and donate them to a local youth shelter. The shelter coordinator hits all of the local Starbucks (we only have 6) in the early morning and picks the bags of food up. And here's hoping that the items are all distributed and eaten quickly.

Not just Starbucks

So, who, you are asking, is Premium Brands? They are a Vancouver-based business that has become the fastest-growing packaged foods supplier in North America. Over the years, they have quietly bought up all sorts of niche food suppliers... places like Piller's Meats in Ontario and Freybe Gourmet Foods. Premium Brands doesn't just supply Starbucks... they also supply The Keg and Boston Pizza...

Which makes me wonder... is ANY of the food that we buy in restaurants actually... you know... cooked from scratch in a restaurant? Or is it all just pre-made "somewhere" and all the restaurant does is heat it up, doll it up with some sauce or a sprig of parsley, and serve it to us?

Cause I'm going to bet that Tim Horton's does not mix up their donut batter in the store. Nor do they make their own breakfast sandwiches... they just assemble them for you. Everything in a Timmies breakfast sandwich was cooked long, long ago in a factory far far away... and shipped to your local coffee shop.

Ugh. That's the thing. Whenever you have a restaurant chain... where customers expect the same standards whether they are in Vancouver or Halifax... or if you have "fast food" or "convenience food"... you are looking at pre-cooked, prepared food.

It's not just Gordon Foods too... there is also Sysco Foods. I've seen their trucks delivering boxes of "food" to various businesses. Heck... I even stayed at a retreat centre in Edmonton once and had the most amazing "healthy" cookie with craisins and nuts. It was SO good! I asked the retreat director - "OMG! What is the recipe for these??!!" She replied "They're good, aren't they! They come from Sysco." No recipe. No home-cooked baking. All the retreat centre did was bake the pre-made cookie dough.

Sadness. No yummy cookie recipe. Sigh. And no yummy brownie recipe either. It makes me stop and think when I look at a restaurant menu... A steak is probably cooked onsite. Chicken fingers? Probably come in a box and are tossed in the deep fryer. Salad? Probably comes in a bag, pre-mixed.

We have sacrificed something with our fascination with speed and convenience... And let's not even mention the environmental cost... prepared food that is shipped hundreds (if not thousands) of kilometres. All that packaging. All that food waste. There is a high cost to convenience and speed.

Further Reading

Globe & Mail - The Canadian secret behind the sandwiches at Starbucks - The Globe and Mail

Financial Post - This Canadian food company is growing like crazy because of Starbucks grab-and-go breakfast sandwiches | Financial Post

The Daily Meal The Scary Reason Starbucks' Food Looks Identical No Matter Where You Are (thedailymeal.com)

Premium Brands - Wikipedia article

Fox News - Starbucks recall of pre-packaged food (from 2016)

Reddit - Starbucks food boxes thrown in dumpster

Think of the Postivies

I'm sitting in McDonald's again this morning (6:30 am) after a few weeks of relapsing back to Starbucks. I know, I know... change is hard. I wrote about that a while back and it's so true. Even after writing that I was breaking up with Starbucks... there I was... back in it's familiar space. This morning though... I thought... "no"... just do it!

I walked in the door at McDonald's and figured out how to place an order on their big display screens. Another new thing. Now, it came in a disposable cup... so I'm going to have to figure out if they do reusable mugs. I'd probably have to order at the counter but... the first order has been completed. I can't articulate what a big hurdle that was for me... maybe not huge... but big enough that every morning I just thought "I'll just go to Starbucks". So it was probably more like a speed-bump hurdle but... it doesn't take much to derail the best laid plans! Oh... and get this... McDonald's has "table service"!? You can place your order, give them your table number and then sit down while they bring it to you! Go figure!

This morning, there is a different crowd hanging out at McDonald's. These are the guys heading off to work, a lot of them middle-aged. There is one table of old guys chatting away. It's not that different from Starbucks actually... where there's a similar gaggle of middle-aged construction guys that hang out. But I guess... the difference is, I'm on a first-name basis with some of them. And here... it's all new and different and strange.

Now McDonald's has a fairly limited tea selection but... the price is ridiculous. At Starbucks, it now costs $3.90 for a small tea. Here... I can get a senior's tea (smaller) for $1.42. And even a small tea would still be less than half the cost of a Starbucks tea. Soooo... sitting here... I am thinking of the positives...

Walkable/Bikeable

The McDonald's is an easy 30 minute walk from home. I can do that. And it's maybe an 8 minute bike ride. Also very doable. And I'll get the bonus of exercise. What's not to love about that? I could also bike to Starbucks but it's probably more like a 15 minute bike ride and that just somehow seems a bit of a bigger hurdle. 

Cheaper

This is a no-brainer. If I get a Starbucks tea every day (more or less)... that's... let's just round up... $4/day = $120/month.

Whereas at McDonald's... it's $1.50/day or $45/day. What could I do with an extra $75/month? A heck of a lot more than over-priced tea!

Reliable Wifi

Sometimes, at Starbucks, connecting to the wifi is a real hassle. You have to login every single time, even if you check off the little box that says connect automatically. And sometimes the wifi just doesn't work well.

Whereas, here at McDonald's, I was here once and connected to the wifi. This morning, I didn't have to do anything, the laptop connected automatically to the wifi and I was off and running. Gotta love that!

Quiet Music

Sometimes, at Starbucks, the baristas have the music cranked and are rocking their favourite playlists. Which is fine when no one is in the store but... when there are customers... it gets to be a bit much. Part of the problem is that the speakers are in the front corners of the store, far from the baristas, so in order to hear the music over the noise of the espresso machines and coffee grinders, they crank it. 

Here at McDonald's, they have ceiling speakers and even though I am basically sitting under one of them, the music is very chill - Lionel Richie, Phil Collins... Not exactly cool coffee shop jazz but... it's not hideous.

Errand-Friendly

The two Starbucks that I visit the most tend to have errand options nearby. The farthest one has Superstore, Home Depot, Costco, Walmart, etc. Hard to beat that for errand- friendly but... can McDonald's compete with the others?

• Starbucks 1 - grocery store, big thrift store, drug store/post office
• Starbucks 2 - dollar store, bulk food store
• Starbucks 3 - grocery store, library, drug store/post office
• McDonalds - grocery store, drug store/post office, vet, hair cut, several thrift stores

So, it does compare quite favourably. 

Scales Tipping in Favour of McDonald's?

It's kind of hard to argue with all of those pros... isn't it? Especially against a tiny list of cons. They are a multi-national conglomerate behemoth? So is Starbucks. It feels unfamiliar and strange. Yep... that's how life works. Life is change. Life is growth. I used to love Starbucks hot chocolates and that was the draw back in 2010. No other hot chocolate (Timmies for example) could compare. But tea? Tea is pretty generic. I'm not a tea connoisseur by any means.

At this point, it's the shear force of habit that keeps me going to Starbucks... and familiarity. But I can do this, right? I am stronger than those well-worn paths in my synapses! Small steps. 

Reusable Mugs for Cheap

Yep. I'm at Starbucks gain. Don't ask me about McDonald's! Today, I rode my bike though, so that's a check-mark in the plus column! And yes, the disposable cup is a definite check in the minus column. Especially since I got a refill on my tea and have now used TWO disposable cups!

Ugh... When I packed my bike backpack this morning, I thought about taking a reusable mug but... it wasn't washed and... well... that was just that little bit of extra energy that I didn't have. Plus... it adds weight to the backpack so I talked myself out of bringing it.

Which isn't the best thing. My bike ride here (plus!) is effectively cancelled in terms of its eco benefit because of my two (and counting) disposable cups. 

Ideally, I'd have a whole slew of reusable mugs/tumblers that I could bring with me to Starbucks. And it's true... we do have several, but at least 2 are stashed in the car as back-up mugs there!! And the rest of them are cheapo plastic ones.

I've been reading a bit about the dangers of plastic and hot things. Were not supposed to microwave food in plastic containers cause the heat releases bad stuff from the plastic. And soooo... when I think of my hot tea in a plastic tumbler/mug... I get the heebie-jeebies now.

Now... there are reusable mugs/tumblers that are metal on the inside. It's just a matter of finding one.

And yes... I could probably buy one at Starbucks... for $$$$ but that's not me. I kept my eyes open at Value Village for weeks and bought a metal-lined tumbler months ago!

It is even a Starbucks one!! It's perfect. A grande size (medium size) with a metal interior. It's even lighter than the plastic ones.

It's just that... it wasn't washed this morning. I need to get better at talking myself into the minimal amount of energy it would take to just rinse out the thing and toss it into my backpack!

And, I do have to admit... I was quite happy when I found this one. It was less than $4 and it cost $25 new! Can't go wrong with that price.

I don't know who buys new mugs at Starbucks but... I thank you for this one!

And... I suppose... I could ask the baristas to give me my tea in a "for here" ceramic mug. I mean... really... the inside of the disposable cups are lined with plastic too (heebie-jeebies!!). Maybe I should try it... I just know from past experience that my hot chocolates would always get cold much faster in the ceramic mugs. But... with the tea and uber hot water that they use... maybe a ceramic mug is actually a benefit!! I will make an effort... I will... seriously.

Change is Hard

Last week I grumped about Starbucks and how I am so tired of the price increases, the reduction in amenities (comfy chairs gone) and the lousy rewards program that just cut reward star value in half.

After much muttering... I decided to try... McDonald's. It's supposed to open at 5:30 am... although the nearest McDonald's has some low reviews because of the hours not being accurate.

Rather than showing up at 5:30 am and finding the doors locked... I decided to try it one afternoon. I finished running some errands and walked in the door.

It's different than Starbucks... has more of a Tim Horton's feel. Bright... hard... sterile. I mean... it's not that different from Starbucks which also has hard surfaces... hard floors, hard tables... hard seats. But in Starbucks, the lighting is subdued and it gives it a nice moody ambience, warm and inviting. Here at McDonald's it's just a bit too... I don't know... cold.

But... there's always a but... they have a TONNE of electrical outlets, basically one by every table. And they have a lot of tables too. They even have some soft bench seating with tables (and electrical outlets).

I grabbed a table near the window and sat down... I can hear people chatting at the next table but there is a bit of a screen between us, which is nice.

The wifi was easy to connect to and is a solid 173 Mbps which s fast.

There are a lot of older people passing through here... which is fine. McDonald's food is cheap! I didn't order anything though... not a tea, not anything. Which might be a bit of a cheat but... I am trying it out.

Nobody's going to throw me out and... well... we'll see how it goes.

Right now... I don't like it. It's different than Starbucks and... well... I don't like it. I know that change is hard but knowing that doesn't make it any easier. I have gotten very comfortable at Starbucks. And making the move to McDonald's is going to take some doing. Are there things I could love about this place? Maybe... it's a good location. It's walkable from home. It's across the street from the local grocery store where I often come to pick up odds and ends. It has fast wifi. It has lots of electrical outlets. The music isn't super loud.

I mean really... when you look at it... the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot... at least in the number of them. Way more pros than cons. But the con (ambience) is a big one. Or is it?

I am going to have to try this out for a while and see how it goes. Small steps remember... just one small step.

Breaking up with Starbucks

 

Readers of this blog will know that I have a bit of a love affair with Starbucks. We've been together now for... oh... 13 years I guess. Through thick and thin, through hot chocolates and brownies and chai teas... I've attended faithfully, day after day.

One of the reasons why I love Starbucks is the ambience. It's comfortable, it's cozy, it's convenient. I also love the electrical outlets and the free wifi! I also love that they are open early! I am an early bird and like to hit the ground running at 5:00 a.m. The only thing open at that time is... Starbucks. A match made in heaven!

But a few years back, before Covid, all of my favourite Starbucks started getting rid of their comfy chairs... slowly but surely, they all disappeared. All of the locations got remodelled as well, and added extra storage space for refrigerators and the like. So the overall seating declined as well, making it harder to get a spot to sit.

Back in mid-February, 2023, Starbucks also adjusted their rewards program. You get "stars" for every dollar you spend. With 50 stars, I could get a free tea or a free brownie. Yay! Except... they decided to join the inflation band-wagon and doubled the number of stars I would need. So instead of 50 stars, it was 100 stars. Well... that sucks. And... that same day, I walked in there and found that my tea had also jumped in price, another 20 cents.

It used to be that I could get a tea there for $2 but now... it's $3. And that just seems a bit too steep for me.

If that wasn't enough... their wifi has gone to the dogs. At my regular location, I usually have to piggy back on the Subway fast food place, two doors over. It has faster and better wifi than the Starbucks that I'm sitting in! At some of the other Starbucks, I have to use my smartphone as a wifi hotspot in order to get anything done. Not cool.

And sooo... after the stars doubled... and my tea went up... I thought... I need another hang-out place. I scrolled through Google Maps searching for coffee shops in my area. I would love to be able to support an independent, locally owned business, but they all open at 8 am. That is too late for me. And soooo... I was left with one option. One that I hate to even mention in this hallowed space. Ewwww... it's... ready for it... yep... McDonald's. I know, I know... ugh!!!!

But here me out... and look at my checklist...

• Open early - check - they open at 5 am
• Free wifi - check - I will have to test it out though and see how good it is
  
• Electrical outlets - check - I scoped out the nearest McD and they had outlets at every single table (better than Starbucks where you have to jockey for tables near outlets)
  
• Tea - check - different flavours and... it's $1.50 (half the price of Starbucks)
• Walkability - check - this isn't even an option with Starbucks which is a good hour away, but the nearest McD is only a 30 minute walk. Perfect
• Ambience - meh - not the greatest... although they do have padded bench seats (which Starbucks eliminated pre-pandemic)
• Convenience - check - it's actually in an area of shops that I often stop at for small things (like cat treats)... so I could kill a few birds with one stone here.

Sooo... as I write this... tomorrow is my Starbucks day... and... as long as it's not bucketing rain, I will be walking to McD... (or driving if it is bucketing rain). And... I'll report back on my experience.

Sometimes change happens gradually... and sometimes... the pressure builds up over time until... it's a big change. Wish me luck.

I don't feel like Writing... I feel like Chocolate!!

Nope, I don't feel like writing. It's been a crap day at work with all sorts of technical issues as we launch a new workshop registration campaign. People buying the registration and then the system eating it and not spitting out a Welcome Email... and unhappy people left, right and center.

And then a disturbing personal phone call and... seriously... I just don't feel like writing. What I feel like is chocolate!!! Specifically a double chocolate brownie from Starbucks. It's 3:00 pm and the window for brownie time has closed (at least for me - or I'll never get to sleep). But that doesn't mean I still don't want it.

I am feeling cranky and out of sorts. The day got off to a rocky start and I didn't get my 1 hour writing time before being tossed into the deep end of technical work issues. Which sucks. And here I am, trying to regroup and gather my thoughts and... it's hard. I'd be much happier, I think, if I just grabbed my office backpack and went to Starbucks... I'd do a better job of regrouping there. But that's probably not true.

Cause at this time of day, Starbucks is overrun with university and high school students and there's not a hope of getting a table next to an electrical outlet (and my laptop battery doesn't last long anymore). So I'd probably just sit there and spin my wheels and feel even worse than I do right now. So that's not a solution. Which is why I'm sitting here and trying the writing thing at home... just me and keyboard.

It's not easy... the siren call of the brownie (and Starbucks) is strong. But it really doesn't help me. Not in the least. What does help me is increasing the magnification of this browser window by 20%! Sigh... things on the screen are looking smaller and smaller. Might  be time for another visit to the optometrist to see how the old eyes are doing. I can still read things, but I find myself squinting and frowning more at the screen... which is problematic on a Zoom call, when I just look frowny angry!

Anyhow... back to the topic at hand. I know that writing will make me feel better... but writing when I'm not already feeling good can be a challenge. And I even had a topic picked out from my morning walk at 6:00 am. But writing about that topic didn't seem feasible at this point. What really needs to get written is what's going on in me right now. So here we are.

Some people think that writing is "easy" if you're a writer. It's not. Sometimes it's like pulling teeth. It's not comfortable. It is not warm and fuzzy. It's dragging out your dirty laundry for all the world to see... and then holding each piece up to the light and studying it in detail. What is going on in my head right now... ?? What am I feeling? What is going on for me?

While I know that everyone has dirty laundry, that doesn't mean it is any easier for me to drag it out and share the nitty-gritty-ness of it. Gross. Emotions. Feelings. Grumpiness. Moodiness. Ick.

But if we all have it, surely it would be beneficial to share it... to share what is going on, so that others don't feel that they are all alone with their filthy laundry. Still doesn't make it easier to write about.

I guess the burning question is... why do I want a sugary, fatty treat that is crammed with wheat gluten (bad for my thyroid condition)? What is the brownie actually going to do? For about 1 minute, it will taste absolutely delicious and then... poof... it will be gone and I all I will taste is the bitterness of regret and the anger of failure. Which doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? And yet... that is what I am craving right now.

The emotions are too uncomfortable - frustration, anger, sadness, fear, irritation, uncertainty - and rather than sit in that... I would rather go and have the brownie. Run from the emotions? Distract myself from the emotions... if only for a minute? Makes zero sense.

I wish I could figure it out. It's not like I'm craving a banana or an apple or a handful of nuts? Or a walk or a drink of water. Although I do have my water bottle close at hand and am sipping at it as I write this. Trying to distract myself from the brownie.

Maybe what I really need is a good cry. Maybe the brownie is just trying to stuff sweet on top of those uncomfortable emotions that want to be expressed? Maybe. Or maybe I need to rage and growl in anger at the situation I find myself in. Perhaps the craving for the food is the brain trying to stuff all those emotions down... "let's just force feed it some sweets". Because emotions are dangerous you know.

It's not safe to express many emotions (other than joy) out in the world. Heck, we aren't really trained in how to express our emotions. We complain about people, places and things, but we don't really get to the heart of the emotion. We swallow the angry words. We stuff down the tears. We stiffen our backs in the face of fear. Don't show it... don't feel it. Sounds like a Disney film... Frozen and the song "Let it Go"...

Don't let them in. Don't let them see.... Conceal... don't feel. Don't let them know.

And the truth is, life is messy. Things aren't always smooth and calm and peaceful. It is so easy to get blown off course. To get thrown off kilter. The question is... how to get back on course. How to get back on kilter...  back on track?

How to clear the space? Write about it? Express it? Connect with something that grounds us, roots us, reminds us who we are? Put things into perspective?

Maybe step away from the computer and the phone and reconnect with the analogue world. Go for a walk... do something physical and with my hands. Declutter some more? Something... and the only way to know what is going to help is to try a few things... and see what sticks and what doesn't. See what helps and what throws me further off course. I'm pretty sure a brownie, delicious as it is, would throw me further off course! Sad to say... but it is truth! Ugh!

Fighting the Sugar Demon

Coke

Sugar... such an innocuous word. But sooo dangerous.

I've known for a while that sugar is my kryptonite, my nemesis... the thing that is, for me, the hardest to kick to the curb. And whenever I think I've vanquished sugar, it simply shape shifts and morphs into some other form that sneaks in under the radar. Kind of like whack-a-mole.

For years, I drank quite a bit of Coke. I started in university (back in the 80s) and only really overcame that addiction on 7 July 2009, when I drank my last can. Twenty-five years of addiction done! Hooray!!!

Wait... not so fast. Because sugar wasn't done with me yet... my new friend was now Starbucks hot chocolate. I mean... if you're going to go to Starbucks and sit there and use their wifi for hours, you need to buy something, right? And for me, it was hot chocolate... 

Starbucks hot chocolate

That started in the fall of 2009 and continued until the spring of 2019 when I drank my last hot chocolate (from Starbucks or anywhere). Hooray!!

I've now been hot chocolate free for over 850 days. Not that anyone's counting... And the trick, for me, in ending my hot chocolate addiction was to make an agreement with my partner that... if I had a hot chocolate, I would have to pay a $10 penalty to her! Right then... done with hot chocolate!

Wait... not so fast. Last summer, with the pandemic raging and Starbucks closed to visitors... I developed the habit of going for a hike on Saturdays and Sundays (a good thing) and then grabbing a Starbucks Double Fudge Chocolate Brownie to go (warmed up too, please). I'd take it to the park, sit by the pond, and eat it off of my camping plate (and camping fork), which I carried around in my day pack for just such an occasion. It started out as one brownie per weekend and then morphed into two brownies per weekend. And over the winter... it continued... even though I was no longer hiking! My new sugar addiction was born.

Starbucks brownie

On top of that... as this long gloomy winter of pandemic restrictions dragged on, my partner and I went down Junk Food Alley and started consuming copious amounts of chips and chocolate... with the occasional bag of Cheezies thrown in. My weight began to rise and I knew it was not a good idea... but when sugar has its teeth and claws into you... it's a bit of a beast.

Enter my new diagnosis of hypothyroidism... due to Hashimoto's thyroiditis... which is an auto-immune condition that attacks the thyroid. Charming. The auto-immune bit is the tricky part... trying to get a handle on that. There are a whole host of things that contribute to it... let's start with alcohol, caffeine, sugar and gluten. Just to name the Big 4.

Sigh... that includes beer... coffee... (and hot chocolate)... all yummy sugary treats and... things like bread, pizza dough, and... da-da-daaaaa... brownies. Actually... chocolate brownies tick three of those boxes. All I'd need was to add some rum extract to the brownie and it would hit all four.

Starbucks Gold Card

Sooo... caffeine is easy... don't drink coffee. Not really a tea drinker either so... check that one off the list. Done!

Alcohol... I do like a beer on the weekends... but I stopped three weekends ago and haven't looked back. Done!

Sugar... bugger. It's one thing to know, intellectually that sugar causes inflammation in the body and is NOT good for Hashimoto's sufferers... but putting that into practice has been a bit of a problem.

Here's what I've come up with, my latest Go Big or Go Home strategy... I've removed the Starbucks app from my phone so I can't use it to pay for brownies. And... I've given my partner my Starbucks rewards card so I can't get any rewards (or use them) if I pass by a Starbucks. It's kind of a variation on the "put your credit card in ice if you're dealing with credit card debt". Cause the thing is... you get rewards for buying things at Starbucks and I'm such a cheapskate that I won't stop there if I can't use the app or my card. Sooo... we'll see how this goes. So far, so good... as of this writing, I am two days brownie free. Sigh... a long road ahead but I'm hoping that eliminating this form of sugar... and being wary of all other forms... will help me get a handle on this auto immune nightmare.

Wish me luck!

In the News - Canada to ban some single use plastics by the end of 2021

So, some good news. Not only is British Columbia banning some single use plastics... but now Canada is moving in that direction as well. But it's not all single-use plastics... only the top six offenders.

First up... Grocery check-out bags... I know that I have been using these a lot more thanks to Covid-19 and the ban on bringing my own bags into stores. And it is soooo easy to slip back into that habit even now that I can bring my own bags. But, Covid-19 is not going to be around forever and, as we learn more about the virus, experts are questioning how much touch-transfer can occur at various points. So, banning grocery check-out bags is a good start. But it leaves me wondering... does this include the check-out bags from other stores? Home Depot? Dollar Store? Corner stores? And this ban doesn't address the whole line of produce bags. I got some resuable mesh produce bags for Christmas last year and, with Covid-19, haven't been using them. Wondering if maybe now is a good time to start again? And let's not even talk about Bulk Barn and all of their filmy plastic bags as well. Still... grocery check-out bags is a good start. (Image at left from CBC News)

Next up - Plastic Straws. We've all seen the picture of a turtle with a straw stuck up its nose. We know that straws are very bad for the environment. So, getting rid of plastic straws is an excellent move. There are now cardboard straws out there as well as metal straws. I know that some people with disabilities do better with plastic straws so presumably there may be an exception for them? But gone are the days when you would automatically get a little straw with your soft drink or juice in a restaurant.

Then we have Plastic Stir Sticks. I know that Starbucks switched over to wooden stir sticks several years ago. The one thing they still have is those plastic stir stick/plugs for the to-go cup lids. Ah... I looked it up, they are called Splash Sticks. And I see them everywhere when I go walking in parks... Because, once you've got your to-go drink and are walking in the park with it... what are you supposed to do with the little green splash stick? Toss it on the ground I guess. So, kudos to Starbucks for getting rid of their plastic stir sticks... now it's time to get rid of the splash sticks as well.

Missouri Department of Conservation

And... at last... Six Pack Rings are being banned!! Hooray!!!! It's about time. We've all seen pics of animals with their necks stuck in a plastic six pack ring. No? You haven't? Here... a pic of a turtle... from the Missouri Department of Conservation no less. I know that I always, always, always, take a pair of scissors and cut each circle/opening of the plastic rings... even the small ones. But I can't tell you how many of these things I find lying on the ground. As early as the 1970s they were identified as a particularly dangerous form of marine debris. Good riddance.

We can also bid adieu to Plastic Cutlery. I started this last year for myself.... carrying around my own camping cutlery in my bag for whenever I went into a Starbucks and wanted to order warmed-up brownie. It's not hard to do... and it felt good to be able to turn down the plastic fork contained within a plastic bag. But now, it's going to become mandatory... no more plastic cutlery. There are plenty of other options out there for take-out meals. I had a quick look at ULine.ca which sells plastic cutlery... about $0.07/plastic utensil of standard weight. They didn't have a non-plastic alternative. For that... I went to Let'sGoGreen where they sell cutlery made from plant starch for... about $0.07/utensil... Mind you, that's probably in $US so... more like $0.09/utensil. Ya know, if I knew that I was paying an extra $0.06 for a set of eco-friendly disposable utensils... I'd be all over that.

Finally... we have Takeout Containers made from "hard to recycle plastics". This is your everyday styrofoam, polystyrene containers. It's kind of crazy in this day and age that any business would actually still be using these things but I you can still buy styrofoam cups in the stores! ULine Canada sells them... grocery stores sell them... and I'm hoping that they are included in the ban. As well, are the take-out containers made from polystyrene... nowadays you can get take-out containers made from sugar cane waste... so we really don't need to resort of polystyrene. And I know that if I ever get take-out again... that will be one of my first questions "What sort of containers do you use?" I'm not sure what the solution is for take-out... I have had some restaurants use hard-shell plastic containers (white bottom and clear lid). I have had some use what looks like plastic-lined paper-based boxes with little metal lid/handles. But there are other options, everything from restaurants charging and extra $1 for serving the take-out meal in reusable plastic containers to restaurants taking back their dirty usable containers the next day. There are options... At the very least, some people recommend bringing your own plastic containers when you eat out a restaurant (those were the days). That way, if you have leftovers, you just pack them in your own container and don't have to get a disposable doggie bag container from the restaurant.

What's NOT Included

 Of course, there are a whole host of single-use plastics that are not included:

• Garbage bags - but without grocery check-out bags... we'll have to buy more "real" garbage bags
  
• Milk bags - they still sell milk in bags? Apparently Eastern Canada is still big on this while the West has gone back to milk jugs. Go figure.
  
• Snack food wrappers - chocolate bar wrappers, chips bags, etc.
  
• Disposable personal care items and their packaging - toothbrushes, single-use razors, shampoo bottles, etc, etc.
  
• Beverage containers and lids - to-go coffee and drink cups with their plastic lids. Too bad... that should be the next thing to go though.
  
• Contact lenses and packaging
  
• Cigarette filters - I guess they figure the harm that filters do to the environment is better than the harm that no-filters would do to smokers.
  
• Items used in medical facilities - soooo very many items... all necessary...
  
• Personal protective equipment - masks, etc.
  

And let's not even talk about all the other packaging for everything from screws and nails to toilet paper to bags of rice. And there is no mention of produce bags which makes me wonder... where are they?

I did find an article from the Vancouver Courier which mentioned that Vancouver is banning plastic bags by January 2021 but that produce bags will be exempt. So it looks like plastic produce bags are here to stay for a while.

I looked at some produce bag alternatives... Credo Bags in Montreal, for example. They have produce and bulk bag options. But they are NOT cheap. There is always the option of sew-your-own... but that will have to be another blog post.

Suffice to say... anything we can do to reduce our plastic footprint is a step in the right direction and I am very proud of Canada for making that move.

Belated Space Bird Celebration

Yes, that's right, you are reading the words of a Space Bird graduate! On July 1 (Happy Space Bird Day!), I managed to go 500 days without having a hot chocolate. Was it an addiction? Mmmm... possibly. For sure, it was a very, very well-entrenched habit... and not a good one. Never mind the $$ spent on hot chocolate at Starbucks, there was also the impact on my waistline and my arteries and cholesterol levels.

Eleven years ago, more or less, I ditched my Coke habit (that's Coca Cola... not the other stuff). That too was a huge thing... but I managed to do it. And now, 11 years later, I feel nary a flicker of desire when I walk by a vending machine. On the other hand, even though I'm free of hot chocolate, I still feel twinges of desire for a rich and creamy, oh so yummy, Starbucks hot chocolate with whipped cream and mocha drizzle. Mmmm... Sooo... clearly there is still some life in that habit and I have to be vigilant.

For a while, I've been planning a blog post on the distinction between habits and willpower. It takes a lot of oomph to alter a habit and about 30-60 days. But once you are over that hump, and have a new habit in place, it does go more smoothly. Relying on willpower, however, is more problematic, as willpower is a limited resource and, by most afternoons, most of us are extremely depleted in the willpower department.

I'm going to have to do some more research but a few tips on shifting from one habit to another are:

• Awareness - identify the when/where/who of your old habit - me, at Starbucks, with a hot chocolate, happily sipping and working away on some writing in the peaceful white-noise hubbub of a coffee shop.
  
• Identify the Triggers - is it stress or boredom? What is going on in your life? Right now, Covid-19 stress is a big driver in people clinging to old habits. I hesitate to say "bad" habits... maybe it's more that they don't lead to desired outcomes. For myself, going to Starbucks was my "peaceful zen" time... or at least, that's how I saw it. I could get away from all of the clamouring to-do-list tasks and interruptions at home (I'm looking at you, cat!) and just focus on one thing.
• Write it down - make the promise to yourself in writing and look at it every day
• Alter the Environment - change the when/where/who of the old habit. I made it much harder on myself by continuing to go to Starbucks and doing my usual routine. It would have been easier had I gone elsewhere... like Tim Hortons where they have terrible hot chocolate.
• Buddy up - find someone to be accountable to... or someone who also wants to alter an old habit.
  
• Replace the old habit with a new one - instead of ordering a hot chocolate at Starbucks, I would order a chai tea. Again, I made this harder on myself because not only was the hot chocolate a habit, going to Starbucks was a habit. It would have been far better for me to replace my morning Starbucks habit with something else - a hike, a spell in the garden, going to the library.
  
• Reward or Penalty - identify some reward or penalty that can serve as a motivator for altering the old habit. For me, the idea of paying a $5 penalty to my partner every time I had a hot chocolate was a serious motivator and oftentimes, it was the only thing that kept me from ordering a hot chocolate during that first month.

Our brains love to set things up on auto-pilot... disrupting that takes time and attention. But it is doable. I had been trying to quit hot chocolate for several years, so it took me repeated attempts to finally ditch it for good. It also requires vigilance because already... I can see the potential for several other less-than-desirable habits forming... Starbucks double chocolate brownies... chocolate, period! I am working in the direction of indulging in a brownie once a week, after a hike, using money that I have collected whilst hiking (e.g. picking up beer and pop cans on my daily walks). If I have enough money at the end of the week (or Starbucks points) for a brownie, brilliant. If not... too bad. In many ways, this is a perfect merging of several habits:

1. Encourages me to take my daily walks - the more walks I take, the more likely I am to find cans, etc.
2. Encourages me to bring plastic bags and pick up litter - I am still struggling with the hurdle of "what will people think".
3. Rewards me with a brownie at the end of the week. The only hiccup I see with this little holy trinity of habits is... collecting too many cans and getting to the point where I have enough weekly funds for more than one brownie! Still... $3.10 for a brownie, means I need to collect 31 cans in a week... Today I got none sooo...I don't think "too many cans" is going to be a problem...

So... that's where I'm at... mighty Space Bird that I am... and trying to amend old habits and develop new ones... Some of it might seem silly to others, looking in, but... whatever works, baby!

Picking up the Threads of Life... or Not

Tim Horton's is opening up to dine-in customers... with social distancing measures in place. That was in the news a few days ago. Which means Stabucks won't be far behind.

And so I sit here at home and really think... if... when... Starbucks reopens to dine-in customers... will I be one of them?

There's a part of me that really, really, really wants to pick up the threads of my old life. I love going to Starbucks, plugging into an electrical outlet, connecting to WiFi and getting some work done. I love the ambience. I love seeing the regulars there, even if all we do is exchange a "Hello".

Starbucks seating in Korea - before Covid...
and during Covid reopening

Except... the virus isn't gone. Even though we've had no new cases on the island for several days... that doesn't mean there aren't a bunch of asymptomatic carriers out there who, with relaxed lock-down rules, will now come out of the woodwork and... infection rates could go up.

New studies have also shown that regular talking can leave droplets in the air that linger for up to eight minutes, particularly inside. Thinking of all those people in a Starbucks who might sit and talk or stand and talk and... even after they have moved off... their droplets might linger and... sigh...

This blog is all about small steps and... I don't think running back to Starbucks (or even the local independent coffee shop) is a "small step". Particularly without a vaccine in place. At this point, picking up the old threads of life seems rather irresponsible. To me.

It's been two months now since we started hunkering down and... it's kind of getting to the habitual stage. I am getting used to the idea of having my "Starbucks time" at home... even if I have to deal with feline interruptions.

And so... much as I have been dreaming of a return to some semblance of normalcy... it ain't here yet. Starbucks can open to dine-in customers... but I won't be one of them. We are going to continue to keep our circle small, our trips essential (grocery store, pharmacy and home/garden) and hunker down for the long haul.

The Insidiousness of Single-Use Plastic

It is sooo hard to be eco-friendly sometimes. So hard.

I was in Starbucks the other day month (before covid19), in Victoria, and decided to have a double chocolate chunk fudge brownie. Just cause. I don't need to justify it, do I? No... once in a while is OK... right?

Anyhow... I ordered it warmed up "for here". It comes on a sturdy little plastic plate but then there's a hiccup.

You see a warmed up chocolate chunk brownie gets gooey and is hard to eat with your fingers. Very messy... and dry napkins don't cut it.

The baristas obviously know this because they gave me a fork with my brownie. A reusable plastic fork? No. A reusable metal fork? No.

I received an individually wrapped, flimsy, black, single-use, disposable, plastic fork. There is so much wrong with this... on so many levels.

• Individually wrapped - little sleeve of filmy plastic which instantly gets ripped off and... tossed.
• Flimsy - it's not a fork that I could take home and put in our picnic or camping kit. It can barely handle a succulent warm brownie
• Black - even if it had a recycle logo on it, which it doesn't... black plastic is virtually impossible to recycle at this point in time because the sorting machines can't read the logos.
• Single-use - as noted above, this is a flimsy fork. It is not designed to be reusable. It is designed for single-use.
• Disposable - yep, no dishes to wash, no cutlery to sort, just pure convenience. Disposable convenience.
• Plastic - yup, plastic. They have all sorts of reusable things here... ceramic mugs, sturdy plastic plates, why not metal cutlery?

Camping Cutlery

I got irked and sent in a suggestion to Starbucks. If we are trying to move away from single-use plastics... then the individually wrapped plastic forks have got to go!

I stewed a bit more and then thought... what can I do?

Well... I could pack my own cutlery. Enough of this disposable convenience. I've got the disposable cup thing handled but... now we're into cutlery.

I do have a metal camping spoon, knife, fork set somewhere in the camping gear. They click together and come in a little sleeve... I could dig those out and carry them around in my backpack for just such a moment.

Or... I think we have sturdy plastic camping cutlery somewhere, maybe slightly more accessible... in the laundry room? Let me just go and dig them out... ***10 minutes later*** Voila. Done. They are now riding around in my backpack in a reusable ziploc bag (yes, we wash and reuse our ziploc bags).


It's one Small Step in the fight against disposability.

P.S. Whilst finalizing this blog for publication... I googled "starbucks disposable cutlery" and came across this Globe & Mail article. They are phasing disposable cutlery out this year! Hooray!!!

Disposable Convenience

You already know about my Starbucks hot chocolate addiction... so I might as well make another confession. My morning routine of yore was to go to Starbucks with my laptop, order my hot chocolate, find a table with a nearby electrical outlet and work for several hours.

Nothing wrong with that, right?

Except... I always ordered my hot chocolate in a disposable cup. Even when they specifically asked me if I wanted it in a mug. Worse... they would sometimes ask... "is that for here, or to go"... and I would blatantly LIE and say... "uh... to go". Just so I could get a disposable cup. Despite the fact that I could save $0.10 if I got my hot chocolate in a porcelain mug. Why so attached to the disposable cup?

Because my hot chocolate stayed hotter longer in a disposable cup than in a porcelain mug. That's it... I like my hot chocolate hot... not cold. So I lied...

But I wasn't fooling anyone... The Starbucks baristas aren't dumb... they know me... they know that I never just "go"... I always stay and sit. My chronic lying nibbled away at my conscience...

Travel mug

I tried to bring my own travel mug... but the first few I tried were the wrong size for a Grande beverage (16 oz). All of the travel mugs in our cupboard were for a Tall beverage (12 oz). Obviously, there was no way I could downsize to a Tall Hot Chocolate. I mean... it's marginally cheaper but not 25% cheaper... and it's 25% smaller. Hmph! I also wasn't going to buy a new Grande travel mug from Starbucks because... well... they are expensive.

I know this is illogical and oxymoron-ish but... that's the convoluted twistings of my guilty sugar-addled brain trying to justify itself!

Sooo... I continually lied or fudged or... whatever... and kept ordering my hot chocolate in a disposable cup. Until... one day at a thrift store... I found a Grande sized travel mug (Starbucks branded no less). Hallelujah! My guilty conscience was assuaged. I proudly trotted to Starbucks the next morning with my mug tucked into my backpack. Clear conscience... hot Hot chocolate! Win-win! Yay!

That worked for... ohhhh... one day...

You see... when you get home, you need to remember to take your mug out of your backpack and then wash it. And then you need to remember to pack it up the next morning and... that didn't happen. My attempts at "bring your own mug" were not a success. And my illicit affair with the disposable cup continued. It was convenient. Bring my own mug was inconvenient. And convenience won, every time.

Starbucks recycle system

I could easily try justifying myself...

"Those disposable cups get recycled. See, Starbucks has a recycling system."
Not. Have you ever seen customers put things in those convenient holes in the Starbucks blue bin? Most people either can't read or are moving too fast to stop long enough to figure out what goes where. And... have you ever seen the baristas take those bags to a recycle dumpster? I hang around long enough at Starbucks to see what goes on. No... those clear bags of "recyclables" get taken to the garbage dumpster. There is no recycle dumpster - just garbage... and cardboard.

"Maybe they get sorted at the dump."
Seriously?! And even if they did... disposable cups are lined with a thin film of plastic. Very difficult to recycle.

"Everybody else is doing it."
Very true. But just because everybody is into harming the environment, doesn't mean I have to be.

Starbucks sign - Save the Turtles

One of the Starbucks I frequent has a staff member who is a committed environmentalist. They have chalkboard signs up all over the place encouraging the use of "for here" mugs or BYO travel mug. Back in my disposable cup era... I would walk by these signs saying "Save the turtles. Get a for-here mug".

And I would walk by these signs... ignore the beseeching eyes of the turtle... and STILL order my hot chocolate in a disposable cup.

But all is not lost. When I ditched the hot chocolate habit a year ago... I also ditched the disposable cup habit. I'm not such a rabid chai tea aficionado that I really care if my tea stays hot or cold. In fact, it's kind of good for it to cool quickly cause their hot water dispenser is scorching!

I do wonder though... I have gone to a local coffee shop where the default is a porcelain mug. You specifically have to request a "to go" cup. At Starbucks, if they don't ask you... the default is disposable cups. What if the default was not disposable? Interesting idea...

Vintage refillable lighter

And so, I sit here, sipping my tea out of a porcelain mug, proud of this one Small Step in reducing wasteful consumption. I look at the world differently though... I view things through a different lens, a lens that sees the fusing of convenience and disposability. Here's a quick list of items which feature disposable convenience... is there a solution?

• Kleenex - cloth handkerchiefs?
• disposable diapers - cloth diapers? I still have the diaper pail my Mom used!
• BIC lighters - anyone remember refillable metal lighters?
• paper towels - rags?
• paper plates - regular plates? Melmac plates?
• plastic cutlery - regular cutlery? bamboo cutlery?
• Keurig pods - I'm not a coffee drinker but... regular drip coffee maker? French press?
• plastic water bottles - bring your own metal water bottle? There are a tonne at thrift stores...
• WetWipes - regular toilet paper? I know that TP is convenient and disposable but even I have a line... trust me, leaves don't work very well... And I'm not sure using rags would work... but who knows.
• plastic bags - oooohhhh.... that's a can of worms - let's just say... those reusable grocery bags that rip after less than a year of use are not the best solution (more in another blog post)
• fast food - is there a solution? A&W at least offers chilled glass mugs if you eat-in...

And there's probably a tonne more. And yes... some of these will require more from us: more washing up... more laundry... more cooking... more work... more planning... more thought.

As I stare at this list... of which I am a serial offender... I realize I face multiple choice points in a day. Every time I reach for a Kleenex or paper towel... I make a choice. A choice for convenience. I could argue that Kleenex and paper towel are compostable... but that doesn't negate the fact that trees were cut down to make these paper products... and bleached to make them super white. I also know that regular cotton production is extremely hard on the environment.

Starbucks porcelain mug

Are there alternatives? Organic cotton? Bamboo? Hemp? Linen? A quick Google reveals that... goodness... there are options out there! Who knew there were hemp hankies?

More research required... this blog is already long enough.

I leave you with a picture of a Starbucks porcelain mug... my one Small Step towards making a difference...

My Struggle with Addiction

Every morning, I wake up and I feel it. The craving. And I think... maybe I could have just one. That's it... just one. That's not so bad, is it? The thing is... I've been around the block often enough to have learned a thing or two about my addiction. There ain't no middle ground. It's either all or nothing. When it comes to this drug... I fall in the Abstainer camp rather than the Moderator camp. What's the drug? A luscious white powder... chemical formula... C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁... commonly known as sugar.

Pure powdered refined sugar

Yep... I'm a tried and true sugar addict and my preferred method of delivery is liquid sugar. Although... in a pinch, I won't say "no" to a chocolate fudge brownie... or an Eat-More bar.

Growing up, I don't remember being a massive sugar monster, although my Mom might have different recollections.

Oh... wait... now that I think on it.... **cough**

I do recall sneaking into Mom's baking cupboard when she wasn't around and pilfering squares of baking chocolate. Even the semi-sweet stuff. Oops, forgot about that.

So maybe there was some writing on the wall back then.

Coke - the Real Thing

Things really took off when I went to university. I developed a taste for Coke (the drink... not the other stuff). I'd have a Coke in the afternoon after classes... There's nothing like that moment when you crack the tab on a can of Coke and smell that first heady rush of released air. Oh... and the first sip... priceless! Sooo soothing and relaxing.

But... slowly, over time, my first sip of Coke would get earlier and earlier in the day. And then I'd end up having two Cokes a day... and it would get earlier still. Soon enough, I was having three or four cans of Coke a day, starting at 8:30 am.

Every once in a while, I'd tell myself to get a grip and I would go cold turkey. I'd suffer through the headaches (double whammy of sugar/caffeine withdrawal) for five days and then I'd be good for a few weeks.

Inevitably, I would think... "I'll just have one this afternoon". And the cycle would begin anew. Rinse and repeat... for years. I knew that Coke was bad for me and I tried to quit numerous times... but it always worked its way back under my skin. "I'll just have one."

And then, miracle of miracles... on 7 July 2009, I went cold turkey again. This time it stuck. A week went by... then two weeks... a month... two months and... slowly the craving abated. I could walk by a vending machine and not twitch with desire. I had kicked the Coke habit! I was pretty proud of myself.

Starbucks Hot Chocolate - pure bliss
(more on disposal cups in
another blog post)

But... yep, there's always a but... I had formed a new habit. I had moved to Calgary in the spring of 2019 and transitioned to a new work-from-home job. I began riding my bike around the Glenmore Reservoir and discovered a Starbucks at the half-way point. I'd pack my laptop into my backpack, cycle to the Starbucks and get a bunch of work done. These little adventures ticked a few boxes: get some exercise... get out of the house... have a change of scenery. Win-win-win!

There was just a tiny, little hiccup. I felt guilty just sitting there, using Starbucks wi-fi and not buying anything... I needed to find a drink. Never having developed a taste for coffee (ewww) or tea (ick)... I settled on hot chocolate. Not just any chocolate, a Grande Hot Chocolate with whipped cream and mocha drizzle. Oh... yum...

My little sugar-addicted synapses were dancing a happy jig and my new form of sugar addiction was born. Oh yes, I'd try to quit hot chocolate every once in a while and... well... same story as with the Coke. Not much success. Although I never did get up to three hot chocolates a day... two was my worst!

Dec/Jan 2017/18 attempts to kick
hot chocolate (check marks good,
red x's are bad)

My fasting blood sugar levels started to creep up... and I tried to get a grip, but I was still flirting with the pre-diabetic danger zone. Time and again... I'd go cold turkey... or try moderation - "I'll only have 3 hot chocolates/week"... but nothing worked.

The longest I made it was 21 days and then I caved. These collapses of intention and will-power were usually associated with some stressful event in my life. Things would get stressy... and I needed comfort or a reward. I'd rush off to Starbucks for a hit of hot chocolate. It was soothing... it was calming... at least for an hour or so.

The other thing that I noticed was... hot chocolate ain't cheap. Coke is a cheap drug ($0.11/100 ml)... hot chocolate not so much ($1.00/100 ml). Try spending $3.65/day for at least 20 days a month and... that's almost $80/mo or almost $1000/yr. Not to mention the price of hot chocolate kept going up!

Oh, and let's not even talk about calories. Coke has a miniscule 140 calories/can (355 ml). Starbucks hot chocolate clocks in at 400 calories/grande cup (473 ml). I really hadn't improved things when I quit Coke and upgraded to hot chocolate! Although... when you consider that I used to get up to 3 cans of Coke a day... 140x3 = 420 calories/day... not that far off from the hot chocolate. And... in many ways... I HAD reduced my sugar consumption... 43 g of sugar in one grande hot chocolate... versus 39 g of sugar in ONE can of Coke. Three cans of Coke would be an insane amount of sugar...

Anyhow... before I try to justify hot chocolate as being "better" than Coke... back to my story. The cost of Starbucks hot chocolate got me thinking on ways to reduce my overhead. I tried buying the mix-your-own packets of Starbucks hot chocolate from the grocery store... and having them at home. But, because it was so convenient... I'd sometimes end up having two mugs a day. Not a solution. I tried making my own hot chocolate using cocoa powder, milk and sugar. At least I could moderate the amount of sugar, 1 tbsp instead of 2 tbsp in each mug. But... that was still a lot of sugar. I was seemingly powerless in the grip of sugar... until last February.

Hot Chocolate's D-Day
On 3 February 2019, my father passed away in a long-term care home. It was a stressful, grief-laden time. Two weeks later, after visiting Starbucks and having a hot chocolate... I said "Enough is enough." I had been reading about different ways to alter ingrained habits and came across the idea of a reverse-reward... i.e. a penalty system. You make a commitment to change a habit and every time you do not honour that commitment, you have to pay a penalty that hurts. Like donating to the political party that you hate. That wasn't going to work for me as I wasn't that passionate about politics but... I liked the idea of a penalty.

The implacable reality of cold hard cash

I sat down with my partner and explained my plan. Every time I had a hot chocolate, I would have to put $5 into a penalty fund. She thought it was a good idea and upped the ante. "Fine, but that money goes to me. And that's only for the first hot chocolate. After that, the penalty doubles to $10... and after that, it doubles again to $20." Ooooohhhh... that's wicked! I put the $5 into the penalty pot that day, to cover the hot chocolate I'd had that morning. Game on.

We also started tracking my progress on the wall calendar. For every successful hot-chocolate-free day, I got a little animal sticker on that day (nod to the badges of www.750words.com). I started off with ladybug stickers and, after 30 days, progressed to owl stickers. After 60 days I got cat stickers... and at 100 days I graduated to teddy bear stickers. My tracking app says I have 353 days under my belt. Only 12 days to go...

The start of my Hot Chocolate Free
odyssey (check marks are good!)

Was it easy? Heck, NO! It's been one of the hardest things I've ever done - even harder than the Coke addiction. Once I made it past my previous record of 21 days hot-chocolate-free, though, I felt a bit more confident. It also got slightly easier after 60 days. I had some momentum and didn't want to break the chain (nod to Jerry Seinfeld). But there were many days where the only thing that held me in check was that looming $10 penalty. Truth is... I still crave hot chocolate. I'm sitting here in Starbucks right now, sipping a chai tea with milk (just a tea... not a chai tea latte). It is... palatable... but that's about it. I've tried every tea in their arsenal and... this one is the best of a bad lot... sigh.

Sooo... remember the sugar/grains detox my partner and I started in September 2019? Well... I am so glad I got the hot chocolate addiction handled months earlier. My fasting blood sugar levels are OK... and I feel better without all that sugar coursing through my system. I even lost a bit of weight after the hot chocolate taps were turned off. Best news of all... I didn't replace that liquid sugar supply with another one. I'm not a root beer addict... or a caramel macchiato addict. I don't dump packets and sugar/sweetener into my tea. I do, however, notice a weakness for chocolate... particularly if it is in the house. So... I try not to keep it in the house.

As I come up to my one year anniversary of being Hot Chocolate Free... I find myself having a little internal debate. "Maybe I could just have one on the anniversary date. Just one. And then I could start the abstinence anew." It's interesting to observe this conversation going on in my head, because it never happened with Coke. I think the hot chocolate has deeper roots... and it is hanging on for dear life...

As I said... I've learned a few things in my life... moderation for my sugar addiction does NOT work. I need to go cold turkey and abstain completely. But that's only for sugar... I have no problem moderating alcohol intake and can have a beer or not... no problem. But sugar... it's got me in its grip.

Every day, therefore, is a choice. Sometimes every hour! Just one small step towards health. And 353 daily small steps later... I've come a long way. Will I cave and have a hot chocolate on February 18? Stay tuned...

I'm kind of curious though... how have other people altered deeply ingrained habits? How did you give up smoking or sugar or alcohol or video games? What worked for you?

P.S.
I'll also look at the environmental impact of sugar plantations in a future blog post...

Suffice to say, reducing our sugar consumption would definitely be better for our health as well as that of the planet!