Festival founder calls for ban on single-use cups
THE organiser of the Glasgow Coffee Festival is calling for a ban on singleuse coffee cups.
Lisa Lawson has teamed up with KeepCup to provide reusable coffee cups to everyone who attends the event.
The Scottish Government recently established an advisory group on plans to introduce a mandatory charge on coffee cups in Scotland. More than 95 million single-use cups are used in Glasgow every year, with most being either incinerated or sent to landfill.
Lisa, who set up Dear Green Coffee Roasters in Glasgow more than 10 years ago, said: “I hope within this decade, single-use cups can be a thing of the past.
“There’s a climate emergency and as an industry we have to do our bit to turn this back around, and once again encourage people to make a very simple shift. I thought COP26 would make that change, but it hasn’t.
“Maybe our festival can cause people to ditch singleuse cups once and for all.
“Compostable and recyclable isn’t the answer – reusable is the only solution.
“At the very least people should have to pay extra for single-use cups.”
Abigail Forsyth, founder of KeepCup, which is an event sponsor, said: “We love that Scotland is leading the world in the transition to renewables, and now looking at banning problematic and unnecessary packing in the form of the single-use cup.
“The disposable cup-free Glasgow Coffee Festival, and all the cafes and roasters and punters who will participate, will lead the way with cultural change. Power to the people.”
The Glasgow Coffee Festival runs from May 2 to 15.