Are You Enough of a Do-Gooder to Drink Coffee This Way?
We share a lot with each other these days: rides, our apartments, parking spaces — even our bathrooms. A coffee shop in Brooklyn is testing out what could very well be the next frontier in our happy-to-share culture, and it might feel a little intimate at first. Every time regulars go in to fill up at the BK hotspot, they’ll have the option of sharing cups with their fellow Joe drinkers, an effort that (if a hit!) could save millions of cups from a life in a landfill.
The Do School is one we want to enroll in — it’s an international educational program that brings people together to launch innovative, sustainable social movements. With the Sustainable Cup Challenge, they set out to tackle the issue of disposable cup waste in New York City’s highly caffeinated culture. Do School teamed up with BK-based coffee shop Brooklyn Roasting Company to brew and test out cup-sharing program, Good To Go CupCycle.
For the program, BRC filled their counters with 500 ceramic cup-share mugs. Instead of going for the throwaway option, folks looking for a buzz could use the blue cups and get 25 cents off their drink. When they returned them back to the shop, the cups were washed and sanitized to be used again the next day.
See, not gross! If we’re talking hygiene, CupCycle is the same level of sharing you’re used to at the workplace, whenever you go out to a restaurant or if you ordered your latte “to stay.”
Not only is this good for the planet, the polar bears and our future grandkids, these cups are good for business, too. Do School CEO Katherin Kirschenmann tells Fast Co. that regular single-use cups cost companies about 15 cents each. Not cheap. And remember, Brooklyn Roasting Co gave customers a break, too. 25 cents per brew or latte can add up to significant saving depending on how many times you fill up in a week.
Come to think of it, we’re surprised a system like this isn’t already in place. Call us nerds (oh, and we are for recycling, upcycling and general sustainab…ling, so deal with it), but this has been our secret hope for all of our taking-out for a while. Some universities have takeout box programs and, of course, Portlandia has its own reusable takeout system. Brooklyn Roasting Company will explore ways to continue and expand CupCycle, while Do School shops around for private sponsors. And we’ll just be “that girl” that brings our own cup from home ’til we see CupCycle in SF.
Would you use CupCycle if it was offered at your neighborhood coffee shop? Buzz below!
(h/t: Fast Co.Exist)