Be a mug
How one easy swap in your workday can save over 4.7 kg of your landfill waste annually.
Coffee, glorious coffee, a daily ritual and coveted treat. We’re lucky enough to work and run a shared office in Melbourne where we have not one, but four fantastic coffee shops on our doorstep. Needless to say, over our multiple coffee and hot chocolate breaks, we’ve gotten to know our local cafe owners and pretty dang well. This has led to many insightful conversations, but most recently, given the rise in COVID disposables, we've been chatting about the waste that disposable coffee cups create.
113 disposable coffee cups are used in Australia every 4 seconds - yep. Next time you order a coffee, take a look at those waiting around you and see how many bring a reusable cup (once you see it, it’s difficult to unsee). It’s not news in coffee-proud Australia that disposable coffee cups are no good. It’s well publicised - in the mainstream news and featured on TV on shows like the ABC's war on waste. Not to mention we have a plethora of Australian-made reusable options such as KeepCup, Joco and Frank Green. We have little excuse to still be using disposables here.
The facts
Disposable coffee cups ain’t recyclable.
Biodegradable cups rarely get the chance to biodegrade and end up as landfill.
If you drink 5 coffees a week in disposables, you create 4.7 kg of landfill waste annually
Plastics can do some mad things to your hormone function.
Hot drinks taste better from a proper cup (we only have anecdotal evidence for this, but just try and change our minds).
Just in case you’ve been hiding under a rock, disposable cups are bad. The beasts are plastic lined, so they can never be recycled (remember that every bit of plastic that has ever been created still exists). Oh and the lids that can be recycled use substances such as bisphenol A (BPA as it’s more commonly known) to structurally reinforce the plastic. BPA is a thyroid/endocrine disruptor, this chemical binds to hormone receptors and impairs endocrine functions.
What next?
Easy swap:
BYO mug from the office to your cafe (you can do it!)
A level up:
Buy or make a reusable cup.
Longterm:
Start up a mug library of your own at work.
What about biodegradable and compostable cups?
Surely they are good, I hear you say? I’m sorry, I’m afraid they aren’t. ‘Compostable’ or ‘biodegradable’ cups never actually get the chance to compost or biodegrade because most waste depots don’t have the infrastructure to dispose of them as they were designed to. As soon as you put one of these fellas in the recycling bin, they contaminate the contents of the bin too. So it’s a double whammy of landfill.
These conversations and truth bombs got us reflecting on our responsibilities as creators of spaces. We’re in the business of setting up the framework for many people’s daily routine and sustainability is a core part of that for us at Small Matters.
We are huge advocates of carrying a reusable cup on your person, but nothing quite replaces drinking out of a proper cup, does it? So we decided to start a mug library at T.O.M.S Place, a collection of communal mugs to take out and about to our local cafes.
All it took was two things, some cups and a sign near the front door. Now, we all have no excuse to leave for coffee without a mug in tow. It’s hardly revolutionary to drink your coffee out of a mug, but it saves trash going to landfill, so we are pretty chuffed. Most of our lovely members love using the library and even better, are proud of it, showing it off when clients come to visit. Of course, not everyone uses it (yet), but we are making ripples in people’s minds about using single-use plastics and that’s a start.
After a quick chat, our neighbouring cafes are more than happy to oblige us and our mugs and even better, most offer a discount for those who BYO cup. Some even charge extra for the cost of supplying you with a disposable.
But we are only human, sometimes we do forget our cups when we're out and about and are gagging for a hot drink. I’m not going to say you should abstain from getting a coffee out, because that’s a clear way to eliminate waste (and fun). But if you have the time up your sleeve, why not make a pit-stop? Treat yourself to a whole 10 minutes of peace - sit down and drink your hot bev at the cafe. And if you must, must, must use a disposable cup, please put the lid in recycling and the cup in the landfill bin.
In short - make the easy swap, save the planet and save some cash.
But what about COVID - are reusables hygienic?
Your reusables are only as hygienic as you are, let’s be clear about that. It’s not hygienic or fair to hand a disgusting reusable cup over to your barista, period. Any reusable should be washed with hot water and detergent, or put through the dishwasher after use. But single-use doesn’t necessarily equal sterile either.
Pathogens aren’t discerning between reusable and single-use when they attach to a surface. Disposable cups can just as easily collect pathogens sitting on coffee machines, from being exposed to droplets during the day or via transport and production. The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services declared that “There is currently no evidence to suggest there is any benefit in switching to disposables. ” And in June, over 115 scientists, over 18 countries signed a joint statement highlighting that reuse can and does safely continue. Companies like KeepCup and Joco have released no-contact coffee methods, meaning your barista needn't touch your BYO cup at all via a contactless pour.
How to make your own cup
Utilising what you already own is always the number 1 sustainable choice. The energy and resources have already been used to create these objects, so try your best to reuse before buying new. Grab a jar and pop some rubber bands around the jar, or use those charity bands that everyone seemed to have 10 years ago, to create a heat-protective layer around the glass and voila, you have a DIY keep cup.
If you must use a cup:
Go topless. Avoid one part of the waste, the lid. Just remember to put your cup in the landfill bin.
Setting up your own mug library
It’s easy as pie, this is all you need:
- Op-shop cups (second-hand and no fuss if they get lost or broken)
- A basket or shelf to put them on
- A sign, explaining what to do
- Willing participants: set the bar by using them yourself and explaining the setup to your colleagues and visitors, get rid of the stigma and make everyone feel comfortable using your new fab system.
Want to know more about easy and cheap sustainable swaps for your space? We can help - contact us.