Starbucks winners will get to work on coffee project
Starbucks winners will getto work on coffee project
By the A.M. Costa Rica staffCoffee drinkers are going to have a chance to win one of 20 sweepstakes to travel to Costa Rica and take part in environmental research on a cooperative in central Costa Rica.Beginning in April and ending May 13, customers of Starbucks coffee stores will have the opportunity to enter into a drawing to win a trip to Costa Rica.
The vacation is not the regular all-expense paid week at the paradise hotel. Winners will actually be expected to work on the CoopTarrazú coffee cooperative.
The program was born out of a partnership between the Earthwatch Institute and Starbucks Coffee Corp. The idea is to bring together the coffee shop's customers and workers on environmental expeditions that are organized by Earthwatch, said a release by the environmental organization.
The 2007 project at the CoopTarrazú cooperative will focus on conducting scientific research designed for the 2,600 coffee farms in Costa Rica.
This summer, eight Starbucks employees and 20 customers will joint force on a project that will use geographic information technology to provide a broad scale analysis of factors that are important to farmers, said Earthwatch. Some of the data that will be collected includes soil erosion and water quality.
The team will also map water resources and biodiversity indicators, such as the number and types of trees and insects. Afterwards, farmers will receive the maps, research results, and management tools to enhance the environmental sustainability of their farms, as well as yield and quality of their coffee, said Earthwatch.In 2005, Starbucks sent employees and customers on a two-week Earthwatch expedition to plant tree seedlings to restore part of Costa Rica's rainforest.
Starbucks began working with Earthwatch in 2000 and recently pledged another $1.1 million for projects over the next three years.
They have worked together on 15 different conservation projects, including those in Kenya, Belize, and Vietnam.
Earthwatch has more than 130 field research projects around the globe. Since the early 1990s, it has been working with organizations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as more than 40 Fortune 500 corporations.Starbucks buys a large quantity of Costa Rican coffee for North American markets.
http://www.amcostarica.com/friday.htm
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