SEATTLE, Washington - Earth Day Network (EDN) announced today that Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq: SBUX) has made a $20,000 contribution to the organization in celebration of Earth Day 2002. The funds will support EDN's ongoing efforts to increase public awareness of the need to develop and implement environmentally friendly solutions for the planet.

Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network praised Starbucks for its leadership in corporate environmental stewardship. "A partnership with Starbucks means more than just a contribution. Starbucks is committed to environmental protection and sustainable development. With Starbucks support, Earth Day Network will be able to continue reaching out to new environmental advocates and building a global network of people who want to make a difference for the environment," said Rogers.

"Earth Day is an important celebration to remind ourselves of the opportunities in the everyday choices we make to use our natural resources more efficiently," said Ben Packard, director of Environmental Affairs for Starbucks. "At Starbucks, we are constantly looking for innovative ways to reduce our impact on the planet. We are proud to support the Earth Day Network to help raise awareness among our customers and partners."

Earth Day Network's 2002 theme for Earth Day is "Protect Our Home." In support of the theme, Earth Day Network is involved in worldwide campaigns to plant trees, help communities with workbooks to assess the impact of environmental problems on public health, and create a "calculator" to measure an individual's "ecological footprint" on where they live.

During Earth Month 2002, Starbucks will feature EDN in its more than 3,200 company-owned stores across North America. Earth Day Network's website, www.earthday.net, has been linked to Starbucks.com, and information about EDN and Earth Day 2002 will be included in Starbucks e-mail newsletter to its online consumers. Starbucks is committed to ongoing partner (employee) education about the importance of environmental practices.

Starbucks partners will be involved in various community events across North America in celebration of Earth Day. For example, more than 500 partners, customers and their friends will participate in a tree planting in a New York City park. In Oklahoma City, Starbucks is partnering with Bisq.it, an independent arts and crafts store, in an effort to promote reusable serveware. Partners and customers are invited to visit Bisq.it and paint a coffee mug. Local artists will also paint and donate their mugs to an auction benefiting Oklahoma City Beautiful, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the community.
Additionally, Starbucks is working to increase customer and partner awareness about the positive environmental impacts of using commuter mugs, as well as ceramic and glass serveware in its retail stores. In 2001 alone, Starbucks customers used commuter mugs more than 11 million times, avoiding the use of over a half million pounds of paper from cups and sleeves.

Starbucks Coffee Company is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world. In addition to its retail locations in North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim, Starbucks sells coffee and tea products through its specialty operations, including its online store at Starbucks.com. Additionally, Starbucks produces and sells bottled Frappuccino® coffee drink and a line of superpremium ice creams through its joint venture partnerships. The Company's other brands enhance the Starbucks Experience through best-of-class products: Tazo Tea Company offers a line of innovative premium teas, and Hear Music produces and distributes a line of exceptional compact discs.

Earth Day Network was founded in 1994 to carry on the spirit and actions of the very first Earth Day in 1970. Today, Earth Day Network includes more than 5,000 organizations in 184 nations and more than 90,000 K-12 educators in the United States. Our mission is to promote a healthy environment and a peaceful, just, sustainable world by spreading environmental awareness through educational materials and publications, and by organizing events, activities, and annual campaigns. Our goal is to build broad-based citizen support for sound, workable, and effective environmental policies.

Starbucks Corporation

Starbucks Corporation

It's the way we do business Contributing positively to our communities and environment is so important to Starbucks that it's a guiding principle of our mission statement. We jointly fulfill this commitment with partners (employees), at all levels of the company, by getting involved together to help build stronger communities and conserve natural resources.

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