Inconvenient Dessert: Pink(berry) is FAR from Green
You must have heard of Pinkberry (LINK) by now. The ubiquitous yogurt shop that is popping up all over Los Angeles and Manhattan. They serve two flavors, the classic which is just Japanese yogurt/calpis/calpico/yakuruto-flavor and then green tea which, though I haven’t tried it is supposed to vaguely resemble green tea flavorings.
I held out, not wanting to endorse yet another new fast food chain, but finally knuckled under last week while walking around Venice, California. Technically, Andi knuckled under and I’ve still yet to support this ‘worst-of-all-things-generically-asian-pop-culture’-styled junk food shop.
What I noticed first and foremost is that EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING in Pinkberry is disposable. Every cup, spoon, napkin, fixture. Not exactly atypical for fast food, but also not exactly responsible. Especially when coupled with the fact that there are NO RECYCLE CONTAINERS AT PINKBERRY!
I asked the pyt behind the counter if I could recycle our container, as well as the heap of plastic and paper spilling out of the garbabe container.
No dice.
Okay, but what about your business recycle. You must have recycling out back in a recycle bin, right? Can I take my container and spoon out there.
We don’t recycle AT ALL.
Ouch. A brand new business, opening in the age of environmental hyper-awareness, and it makes ZERO effort to do the right thing.
If YOU give a damn about your world, find a dessert shop that at least shares your commitment. Handing Pinkberry your money is a bad, bad idea.
Oh, and I got an extra treat when I walked in with my vintage Polaroid land camera. It was pointed out to me that there is a big NO CAMERAS sticker on the door. As if someone is going to capture their secret formula.
To sum it up, Pinkberry is:
Paranoid.
Irresponsible.
Environmentally unconcerned.
Flavor-free.
Expensive.
NOT yogurt. (check out the lawsuit (LINK))
Overall, I’d have to say Pinkberry is incredibly overrated. If you’re a fan, do let me know just what excites you about this new junk food chain. Is it more their contribution to the waste stream or is Pinkberry’s willingness to help you put on a few more pounds?
Song O’ the Day is SHUGGIE OTIS’ “Sweet Thang”. You have to know Shuggie. [audio:shuggie]
los angeles, pinkberry, polaroid, recycle, shuggie otis, venice, yogurt
Tags: Inconveniences, Ruminations
Tod, I’m sending this to my friends, all two or three of them, in Los Angeles. Keep sleuthing, though this discovery didn’t take too much skulking around, did it?
hahaha…Someone is uninformed. Some of the information that is in this article is incorrect. READ THE L.A. TIMES…Pinkberry is YOGURT!…and the fact that it’s junk food…look at the facts!!!
Jay -
You’re making little sense. Yes, it is ‘yogurt’ of a type. And junk food. And???