Found on the streets of Vic Park - a takeaway coffee cup lid.
We asked you recently what your favourite reusable coffee cup is and had some great feedback. It seems a lot of you are already on board with this awesome concept with a few of our local cafes encouraging reusable coffee cups too. But what about those of you who need to make the change? Or what if you need a second coffee cup (one for work, one for home) and you don’t know what to buy?
So we thought with both Plastic Free July and Buy One Get One Tree campaigns coming up soon we could help you out by reviewing some Australian reusable coffee cups. You might even score a free reusable coffee cup because some of these companies have given us a cup to trial - and we’d love to pass these on to you!
But first, what’s wrong with takeaway coffee cups?
Australian’s rise in coffee culture popularity means more and more takeaway coffee cups are heading straight to landfill and are quickly becoming a major polluter. Don’t be fooled by the ‘paper’ cup, they’re often still lined with plastic which takes a long time to break down and the cup lids are generally plastic too.
We spoke to the Town of Victoria Park waste removal provider Transpacific Cleanaway who said coffee cups are becoming a real problem and are generally not recyclable.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A REUSABLE COFFEE CUP?
No landfill = better for the environment.
If you’re out and about with a takeaway coffee cup there are (unfortunately) rarely recycling bins on the street, so most takeaway coffee cups end up in a bin which ends up in landfill. Don’t assume they magically disappear and disintegrate into nothing!
Even if you do take it home and put your cup in the recycling bin they are often not completely recyclable (as we mentioned above) and end up in landfill anyway, or contaminate recycling streams.
Antz Inya Pantz new HQ café on Albany Highway calculated that they saved 3,401 cups from landfill in May alone, just by introducing a ‘no takeaway coffee cup’ initiative.
Let’s just move away from this throwaway culture all together yeah?
Saves you money, eventually.
Aside from the initial outlay, reusable coffee cups can save you money in the long run. A bunch of cafes in Victoria Park will offer a discount if you product a reusable coffee cup (it DOES save the café money if they don’t have to supply a takeaway coffee cup). If your local café doesn’t offer a discount then you should ask!
For those on a budget you can also make your own coffee at home and take it out with you. Nobody has to know you didn’t buy it from a café!
So where to from here?
We’re going to review a reusable coffee cup a week so you can find the perfect reusable coffee cup for your needs. Follow along until the end and you might win your favourite cup!
If you’re a local cafe, or know of a local cafe, who supports and/or supplies reusable cups please let us know! We’d love to share that list with the community.
If you would like to read more about the problem with reusable coffee cups here are some interesting places to start:
KeepCup’s Takeaway vs KeepCup summary.
Great Forest Australia (who provide waste audits) explain why they think we should switch to reusable coffee cups.
Local blogger “Treading My Own Path” has some interesting thoughts on the subject!