As more people realise single-use cups aren’t readily recycled, it’s getting easier to avoid them.
Up your cup game too - either bring your own reusable cup, borrow or swap a cup from some cafés, or take ten minutes and enjoy your favourite cuppa there.
Help make a difference to avoid the billions of single-use cups that end up in landfill and litter each year, simply Bring, Borrow, Stay.
Every year billions of takeaway coffee cups are consumed worldwide - making them one of the most used single-use plastic items in the world. The vast majority are landfilled; many are littered and become plastic pollution. Once in the environment, they break up into microplastics, which cause lasting harm to wildlife and marine ecosystems. Learn more about the issue, how we can all up our cup game and read about policies needed to increase reuse and decrease consumption of single-use cups.
Fortunately there are plenty of solutions to the single-use cup so we can still enjoy our favourite cuppa.
What’s the best reusable cup?
The one you already have!
Some people buy a special travel cup with a sealable lid whereas others bring a regular cup from home or the office. Popular choices include glass, ceramic and insulated stainless steel.
I always forget my reusable cup. What can I do then?
Our research shows most café coffee drinkers own a reusable cup but often hadn’t planned on getting a coffee on the run.
There are many options for when this scenario arises:
Make the time to sit down and enjoy your coffee from a ceramic cup in the café.
Find a café with a cup exchange system. You can borrow one of their cups, and drop it off later at the same café or another participating location.
Upstream Solutions handy reuse directory map shows swap-and-go services worldwide. A growing number of cafés offer mug libraries. So if you are not going far, grab your coffee in one of their reusable mugs, drink it nearby and return when done.
And for next time, putting a reusable cup into your car or bag, will mean its always there when you need it!
For cafés
There are many ways cafés, restaurants, coffee vans and other hospitality venues can get on board with reducing single-use plastic waste. By offering your customers the option to bring, borrow or stay, you can significantly reduce your environmental impact, increase customer goodwill and potentially reduce costs.
If your favourite coffee spot needs a little encouragement to offer alternatives to single-use cups, ask them to get involved. You can provide posters, show them the public health advice about reusables being safe to use, or help them set up a mug library. Every single-use cup avoided is a win for the planet!
For you
Getting a reusable coffee cup isn’t a huge investment. It doesn’t cost too much, but if we try to identify all the benefits of using a reusable coffee cup, we quickly realise that this is a good investment. Let’s go through all of them and see how a reusable coffee mug changes the life of a person that has a passion for coffee.
1. It’ll Keep Your Coffee Warm
Let’s get the obvious thing out of the way right at the start. Unlike the cardboard variants you get in coffee shops, reusable coffee containers keep your coffee warm for a long time. This is the primary benefit of getting your own but let’s see what other benefits they bring to the table.
2. They Support Sustainability
Many reusable coffee cups are made from sustainable materials, and no, we don’t consider plastic reusable coffee cups to be among them. Furthermore, using a sustainable coffee cup over and over again means that you are not a part of the wasteful cycle of creating paper or plastic cups.
3. You’ll Produce No Single-Use Waste From Drinking Coffee
How many times have you seen trash cans overflowing with empty coffee cups thrown away never to be used again? This happens daily, and the only way to ensure you are not part of the crowd making a mess is to get a cup you can use again.
4.They Can Fit Any Style
Now, if the style is essential to you, walking around with a plain old coffee cup isn’t something you’d prefer. Style revolves around maintaining a recognisable look and picking out a coffee cup that fits your style.
5. They’re Good for Your Budget
Usually, when people have their cups, they often tend to brew their coffee at home. This might seem counterintuitive but getting your coffee machine and coffee is much more economical in the long run.