The coffee customers choosing less trash
At the NZ Post offices in Wellington, they work with local cafe Kanteen towards being free of disposable cups, with the cupcycling movement.
It’s the first cafe in the capital to try cupcycling, and it is encouraging others to get involved too.
Staff feel good about reducing waste – in the first seven weeks, almost 3500 cups were diverted from landfill, or about 100 cups a day.
Kanteen manager Jet Patel says other organisations are asking about the system.
To those in the cafe, the scheme has become a natural process. ‘‘You save money and the environment – why wouldn’t you want to be involved?’’
When staff from the building buy a drink, they’re offered a reusable cup to borrow, instead of a disposable one. The cups, from Ideal Cup NZ, are rinsed and left in the kitchens in the building at the end of the day, and cleaners bring them back down to the cafe.
Nada Piatek is behind a cupcycling scheme called Again Again, yet to be piloted in Wellington. She says its market research shows people do not need a discount to buy in to a reusable and returnable takeaway cup.
Again Again would be costneutral to customers, but cafes would save on takeaway cup purchases.
Its online survey of 290 people showed 52 per cent did not need any extra discount.
Piatek says people genuinely want to see their choices benefit the environment. ‘‘My experience from speaking with people is there’s a genuine and passionate desire to do the right thing.
‘‘Clearly these people are not driven by being seen.’’
‘‘You save money and the environment – why wouldn’t you want to be involved?’’
Kanteen manager Jet Patel