Did you know that over a billion single use cups are used per year in Australia? That’s 2.7 million coffee cups going into landfill every single day. The average cafe on the Northern Beaches uses 2000 single use cups a week.
So, given that Our Blue Dot is a volunteer run community group with a focus on supporting individuals, groups and communities to implement practical steps to reduce their carbon emissions and waste on the Northern Beaches and beyond, it made sense for us to try and help local cafés tackle this issue head on. Last SUPtember (Single use plastic free September) we set out with the goal to introduce Green Caffeen to every café between Palm Beach and Narrabeen.
Now, what is Green Caffeen? It’s a free reusable coffee cup system for eco-focused cafés and coffee lovers across Australia. We know we all have the best intentions of taking our own reusables, yet remembering your reusable is one of the biggest barriers in reducing single use cup waste. Green Caffeen solves this problem.
Once a café has the Green Caffeen cups, it really is as easy as Scan, Sip, Return, Repeat. It’s free and once you’ve enjoyed your coffee, you can return the cup to any participating cafe, not just the one you borrowed it from, and pick up a fresh Green Caffeen from the next participating venue.
There are some really great options for ‘swap and go’ cup systems (Huskee Swap, Returnr and Claycups) but we chose to focus on Green Caffeen for a number of reasons. The fact that we aren’t financially affiliated broke down barriers and any initial push back and allowed us the opportunity to talk to cafés about the benefits from our own independent research. Our only agenda was to support already resource stretched small businesses to make steps towards zero waste.
The zero dollar financial outlay for businesses and their customers, combined with the simplicity of their app which required no extra work for the cafés helped too. It was also hard not to fall in love with the fact that their cups are made from recycled plastic here in Australia and that at the end of their usable life they will be recycled into new products.
By introducing these swap and go reusable coffee cups to as many local cafés as we could, we hoped that it would create a ripple effect throughout restaurants, bars and cafés, and see the end of single use cups on the Northern Beaches. This was followed up by the initiative Swap for Good by the Northern Beaches Council which aims to phase out single use plastics in the food and beverage sector in our region.
A year on, there are 35 cafés spread across the Northern Beaches from Palm Beach to Manly with Green Caffeen available. Download the app or go to greencaffeen.com.au/cafe-finder to find a cafe near you. This is an awesome start, and we’re keen to do everything we can to help more cafés take advantage of the Green Caffeen revolution in replacing single use cups with sustainable alternatives for our precious daily grind.
SUP-tember is a great time to give focus to your single use plastics. Remember the 3 R’s of the waste hierarchy – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Action brings hope. Acting together brings change. Let’s do it together.