PETA Calls Out Starbucks’ Earth Day Money Grab ‘Green Washing’

For Immediate Release:
April 15, 2021

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

Starbucks has ramped up its vegan messaging and promotions ahead of Earth Day (April 22), but the company faces accusations of “green washing” from PETA, which argues that the whopping surcharge added to nondairy milks discourages customers from choosing sustainable options year-round. Please see the following statement from PETA President Ingrid Newkirk:

Starbucks’ empty pledge to help save the planet is soured by its greedy decision to milk its eco-minded customers by charging them extra for nondairy drinks on Earth Day and every other day. The dairy industry is contributing to the climate crisis while taking calves away from their loving mothers, and Starbucks is ignoring appeals to drop its vegan milk surcharge.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.