Reusable coffee cups

When we began our eco-journey, posting about reusable cups seemed lame, because surely everyone had heard about them, was using them, had a stack of them in a cupboard; but it turns out that’s not the case. Every day at work, we see people drinking their coffee from a single use cup and it actually makes us sad. Like, really sad. Especially when you know they’ve literally walked 50 paces between the lift and the coffee shop underneath the office. They’re not out and about in a new city, and suddenly feel like having a hot drink to carry on their travels – no, they are doing the same behaviour and patterns they do every.single.day. And that is why it’s so sad to see, because the amount of effort it takes to reuse a cup is so small and the kind of handbags or rucksacks people carry daily have more than ample room for a reusable cup. It feels like the ultimate in laziness and lack of thoughtfulness. The barriers are so minimum and yet, the habits continue.

So that’s why we thought it was worth writing about.

It’s definitely in Vogue to be talking about recycling and particularly coffee cups. People seem to be fascinated and astounded by the facts they see through various TV shows demonstrating how much of a nightmare the whole issue is.

There’s Australia’s War on Waste, where Craig Reucassel manages to get every workplace in the country chatting over the lunch table at work about just how bad things have become and the dire projection on our future if we carry on in this manner. The UK’s Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall keeps viewers enthralled with his study on this topic too, breaking down the misconceptions millions of people have about the recyclable nature of our coffee cups. If you haven’t seen these War on Waste programmes, they’re worth a watch.

If you think the reusable cups are pricey or beyond your means (*pssst – they’re not, if you can afford takeaway coffee each week, you can afford one of these cups) then why not put it on your list as a present next time an occasion roles around. If you see the benefits but struggle to simply go buy a reusable cup, then make a public pledge in front of family, friends or colleagues to make you accountable. If you just can’t decide which colour-way to order your Frank Green or Keep Cup in, then, we just can’t help you.

Next time you purchase a single use coffee cup, just picture yourself in 50 years time – what will you look like? How achey will your bones be? How grey might your hair be? How is that retirement plan working out?

Do all those questions seem a bit too far into the future? Do they seem like a lifetime away?….well guess what, it absolutely is a long time, and that one coffee cup will have only just about decomposed.

Living in Melbourne means being surrounded by Coffee Culture and it ain’t going anywhere anytime soon, nor should it. I reckon Melbournians would be a pretty mean lot if you kept them away from their caffeine fixes, but trying to get them to switch to a reusable cup, would definitely be a task worth sticking at.

If you’re stuck for inspiration head on over to view the hashtag; #salutethereuser