One-up on recycled cups: Starbucks debuts recycled store

Starbucks has stated it intends to make 100 percent of its cups reusable or recyclable by 2015. The company has already taken its conservation-minded initiatives into retail design.

Starbucks’ new drive-thru site in Tukwila, the company’s first with no interior seating, was constructed from four recycled shipping containers. The building serves as its own sign post and rain collected from the roof is used to water surrounding landscaping.

Xeriscaping, the concept of selecting plants that naturally require less water, reduces water consumption.

“Our designers were inspired to create this store both as a result of the shipyard that can be seen out the back windows of our headquarters in South Seattle, as well as a desire to recycle the same kind of shipping containers that transport our coffees and teas around the world,” said Alan Hilowitz, Starbucks spokesperson.

The store is the first in retail-dominated Tukwila to earn a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification (LEED), a rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Hilowitz said the prototype is easy to break down and transport to another location.

They key to no-seating, drive-thru success? Fast-moving baristas.