Reusable cup scheme to expand

MORE Green Caffeen cups are set to make their way into Bendigo cafes as the swap-and-go scheme prepares to expand.

Co-founder Damien Clarke said the program, in partnership with the City of Greater Bendigo, had exceeded expectations since its launch in April.

“The good thing about the first round of funding that we had, and the partnership, is that we blew the levels out really quickly. We grew a lot quicker than first expected,” he said.

“Obviously during COVID there has been a little bit of a downturn, so we’ve been waiting for the right time to come out and let everybody know that we’re now looking for another 30 cafes across the City of Greater Bendigo.”

The new recruits would double the number of businesses involved in the Green Caffeen network and mark 80 per cent coverage of all cafes in the municipality.

Mr Clarke said the organisation was looking to involve more venues in the suburbs and had found their system was also being used by people from outside of the city, particularly residents of the Campaspe Shire.

“There’s so many people that commute, work, travel, go to sports events or whatever it might be that come to Bendigo but when they use our system, they leave it a little cleaner and greener than when they first got there,” he said.

The region has consistently ranked in the top 10 of the organisation’s partner LGAs with over 800 people currently using the free system, so far avoiding almost 15,000 single use cups.

“The Bendigo community has really gotten behind it and realised that it’s a super simple way to stay safe and sustainable in the pandemic that we’re still going through, and the cafes have supported it really well,” Mr Clarke said.