Bermagui cafes collectively switch to reusable coffee cups

ABC NEWS (Australia)

About one billion disposable coffee cups end up in landfill across the country every year according to the New South Wales environment protection authority. One town on the state's far south coast is trying to change that– one cup at a time.

Transcript

00:00Mr Hope, the cafe that Yuki Byrd manages in Bermagui on the NSW far south coast is a community

00:09hub.

00:10The biggest thing that coffee does for people is bring them together.

00:15But being environmentally conscious in the hospitality industry is a challenge.

00:20Cafes suffer in the exact same way as anybody who is interested in more environmental ways

00:27to consume.

00:29Takeaway coffee cups being at the centre of the waste problem.

00:33Just down the street, Tim Northam's cafe Honor Bread is selling up to 250 takeaway

00:38coffees each day.

00:40For the privilege for people just to be able to walk down the street or drink their coffee

00:45and then throw it in the bin, I think we need to have a really big rethink.

00:51So nearly a dozen of Bermagui's cafes came together to ban disposable cups.

00:56It's now bring your own or purchase a reusable one for the price of a couple of gold coins.

01:02For a one time only fee of $3 you get your cup and then you will get that refunded when

01:09you bring that cup back.

01:10The initiative means all cafes sell the cups and any can refund them after use.

01:16Getting the majority of the town's cafes on board was crucial.

01:20The biggest fear for cafes to change across from throwaway cups to a reusable system is

01:25a fear that the customer will then go to the cafe next door.

01:30A disposable coffee cup has an average lifespan of up to 20 minutes and after the beverage

01:35is finished around 1 billion cups end up in Australian landfill each year.

01:40Cafes here in the coastal town of Bermagui are hoping the reusable system will keep cups

01:44circulating for much longer.

01:47The community has been supportive and people are getting creative.

01:51Ah, everyone should just have a go of a coffee in a goblet once in a while I reckon.

01:55It's only $3 so it's not like breaking the bank with it.

01:58I think it's a great kind of sustainable initiative.

02:01The new system was launched at the start of summer, a busy tourist period being the ultimate

02:06test.

02:07So managing things like how we're going to cope with our washing up, how we're going

02:11to make sure that we have the right volume of cups.

02:15It hits really hard with lots and lots and lots of people so I'm unsure if we're going

02:21to be able to prevail.

02:24Hopefully we will be able to.

02:25But Bermagui remains positive and wants others to follow their lead.

02:29The cafes in Bermagui are actually in one sense becoming a test case for how communities

02:36might be able to make this change themselves.

02:39Reducing landfill one latte at a time.

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