If Melbourne is famous for anything, it’s for coffee.
However, with most people in the city’s bustling CBD getting their caffeine fix at least once during the day, the waste that comes as a result of disposable coffee cups is fast becoming a chief concern for the city council.
The City’s famous Yarra River is the most notable casualty of the increasing waste issue, while various streets and parklands are also being swamped in a sea of plastic and cardboard.
With a mind to tackle the looming waste disaster, various cafe’s and businesses have begun marketing reusable cups to their patrons.
Since they began to build notoriety a few months prior, reusable cups are now available at a host of venues across the CBD, and even more in the inner suburbs.
At the heart of the phenomenon is Melbourne-based proprietor Abigail Forsyth, who established KeepCup in 2002.
She was inspired to lead the way in the reusable cup movement after witnessing the scale of waste produced in her own cafe.
Since then, her product has turned global, and is now available in 32 countries around the world.
“My brother and I started a café business called Bluebag in Melbourne in 1998,” she said.
“As the business grew we became increasingly concerned about the volume of packaging waste our business and our customers consumed.
“Almost four years later, with a great deal of help from design professionals, we have kick started a behavioural change in Melbourne that is spreading across the world.
After remaining hesitant about manufacturing reusable cups on account of financial pressure, it took a simple interaction at home to convince Abigail change was needed.
“My moment of clarity was when I was heating the milk in my daughter’s sippy cup one morning,” she said.
“Imagine if I gave her milk in a disposable cup and then discarded it?
“That idea seemed so wasteful, yet I did it with coffee twice a day!
“This moment was the call to action”.
Since Abigail made the decision to launch KeepCup over a decade ago, upwards of 30 cafes in the CBD have taken the lead, with even more in the city’s outer suburbs implementing the practise with every passing week.
The phenomenon has spread to 32 countries, while most of Australia’s capital cities also provide customers the option of either purchasing a KeepCup or encouraging the reuse of other cups.
[infogram id=”reusable_cup_cafes_by_australian_city” prefix=”BRT” format=”interactive” title=”Reusable Cup cafe’s by Australian City”]One such business is Seven Seeds Specialty Coffee in Carlton, which has been a staunch advocate of KeepCup for a number of years.
Jos Turner, the manager of Seven Seeds, says there has been a noticeable change in his businesses’ waste output since they first pledged their allegiance to the cause.
“When KeepCups first fired up, we were one of the first businesses to come on board,” he said.
“As a company, we’ve always been transparent about being environmentally friendly and limiting the amount of waste we create.
“It’s something we’ve always been passionate about, and we were happy to advocate for the movement straight away”.
Mr Turner said the introduction of KeepCups in his business has had a noticeable impact on the amount of waste created by Seven Seeds on a daily basis.
“Speaking from the point of view 0f our cafe, there has definitely been less waste since we started offering reusable cups to our customers,” he said.
“A lot more people have started bringing their own cups from home instead of opting for the traditional disposable cups.
“We also offer discounts to people who bring KeepCups into the cafe, so there is more incentive for people to reduce the amount of waste they create when getting their daily coffee”.
Mentone resident Shannon Schubert drinks an average of two cups of coffee per day, and says she is changing to KeepCup due to her concerns about the environmental impact of disposable cups on the city’s ecosystem.
“My friends have recently started using KeepCup, and I’ve been seeing more on social media promoting the positive environmental impact they have,” she said.
“A few local businesses have complained about the waste that gets dumped in the area, which began to make me more conscious of preventing waste.
“It’s cost effective for students, and the more people who begin to use KeepCup, the clearer the impact on waste reduction will become”.
TIPS FOR COFFEE LOVERS IN AND AROUND MELBOURNE:
- Ask your local cafe or coffee supplier about reusable cups.
- Keep spare cups or mugs at work as well as at home.
- Only use plastic/cardboard cups if they can be disposed of properly.
- Refuse a lid – don’t take one if you don’t need one.
