Isabel Irwin
What’s round, brown, around for a second, yet stays around forever? It’s the epitome of the everyday, the icon of a sped up society. But the recent 25p #lattelevy on the takeaway cup has caused much controversy.
With its paper brown pretence, it seems innocent enough. But the plastic lining renders it almost impossible to recycle, meaning 99% aren’t, and in Denmark are instead burned. However:
Cupclub in the UK and Recup (above) rolled out throughout Germany offer a small (e.g. €1) deposit on a reusable cup, discount on your coffee, and let you leave the washing up to someone else.
The Huskee cup is truly not only made of waste (coffee husks) but reusable, stackable, saving on transport, able to takeaway or stay in the cafe, and retains heat much better than ceramic. Their campaign (below) raised 600% of what they were aiming for and is due to deliver in April.
In a move that gained a huge amount of online traction (the CEO asking their community on Twitter the UK coffee chain Pret is now offering an increased (50p) discount for those who bring their own, like the spill-proof one above from Frank Green. This comes amidst outrage in the UK at the amount of waste and efforts including Hugh’s War on Waste and Hubbub’s #1moreshot campaign and City of London’s Square Mile Challenge that’s already recycled a couple of million cups via their life-sized cup bins in the streets and even ones that were alive.
We’ve yet to see a campaign that causes a complete cultural shift. But these have definitely gained international attention and shows things are a-changing. This year, don’t be a mug. Try the above, or even take a second to sip your coffee in the cafe. To change the world one needs to change themselves. It could be good for you as well as the planet!
