CAFES across Mullumbimby have stopped offering single-use coffee cups for July as part of a new waste reduction initiative led by Byron Shire Council and local business Good Reusables.<\/p>\n
Customers who forget their reusable cup can borrow one by paying a small deposit, refunded when the cup is returned.<\/p>\n
The Reuse July campaign responds to figures from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water showing Australians use 1.8 billion single-use hot beverage cups each year.<\/p>\n
About 500,000 of those end up in landfill every day. Planet Ark estimates 90 per cent of takeaway coffee cups cannot be recycled through standard kerbside bins.<\/p>\n
Participating cafes include The Other Joint, Bimbi, Ya’man, Santos Organics, The Paddock, Heaps Good and Lulus.<\/p>\n
Byron Shire Council resource recovery strategy and engagement officer Sarah Child said momentum around reuse was growing locally.<\/p>\n
“We have been working really hard with event organisers and the markets in the Shire to stop single-use packaging and each week they are currently removing an average of 6000 items a week from going to landfill,” Child said.<\/p>\n
“People think that takeaway coffee cups are recyclable or compostable and therefore there’s no harm in using them.<\/p>\n
“But the reality is they are not able to be recycled in any way and they go straight into landfill.<\/p>\n
“It’s much easier for people to take their own cup or borrow.”<\/p>\n
Child said she hoped residents would support participating businesses and help reduce waste.<\/p>\n
“I would love to see the number of takeaway coffee cups used in Mullum plummet in July, so I am inviting everyone to join the challenge,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CAFES across Mullumbimby have stopped offering single-use coffee cups for July as part of a new waste reduction initiative led by Byron Shire Council and local business Good Reusables. Customers who forget their reusable cup can borrow one by paying a small deposit, refunded when the cup is returned. The Reuse July campaign responds to […]<\/p>\n