Ben & Shae Cecka's family in Gilbert, AZ

Although permission was not required, Starbucks and its pulp manufacturer, the Mississippi River Corporation, decided to seek Food and Drug Administration approval for the new cup material, which is made from paper that had previous consumer uses. In September, Mississippi River and Starbucks received approval under the agency’s two-year-old food contact notification program.

This is a nice thing to see in the paper. They estimate that it will save about five million pounds per year in virgin tree fiber. I do hope that Starbucks doesn’t stop here and continues to research other ways in which they can better the environment.

Some other food companies have made their own efforts. McDonald’s uses recycled material in its napkins, tray liners, meal boxes and its carryout trays and bags. The company says it is the largest user of recycled paper in the food service industry, buying $100 million worth of material. Two years ago, Coca-Cola started using 10 percent recycled plastic for its bottles.

As an ex-Starbucks employee I’m very happy to know they at least care enough about their image to do something… or maybe it really is just for the environment.

Source

Ok – after much loss of hair I found a few more small problems with the commenting area of the journal. They are fixed now and shouldn’t come up again. If anybody has any problems then please email us or use the contact page.

Yesterday Johnathan rolled over from his back to his front, and today he rolled from his front to his back. Also, he tried oatmeal for the first time: thumbs up! Another one that he likes!

We just finished reading the three book series by Philip Pullman titled His Dark Materials. It was really an awesome story with some extremely controversial themes. Really makes ya wonder. We both found it interesting that a Sci-Fi book could invoke so much discussion about real-life issues. Philip Pullman questions God, the Church, and reality. Not that he is “anti” any of these things, but he brings up many alternate views and questions. A definite recommendation for anyone that enjoys a good spin.

Now we’re off to Middle-Earth with our friends Bilbo and Frodo. We just started The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien. I don’t know how many times I’ve read it now but I still enjoy it just as much.

Tom Wolfe came out with a new book this week as well titled, Charlotte Simmons. He researched for several years at different colleges around the country (some big some little) and attempted to capture the real college experience of today. Hopefully it shows up at our library at some point. Right now they don’t have a very good selection of his work. I just might have to have a little talk with them and see if they can’t order some of his lesser known (and more interesting) writing.