It’s Monday morning. You’re kind of still in weekend mode and not exactly ready to tackle the new week. Before you get caught up again in the meetings and emails you’ll make the one quick, but oh-so-important stop to get a cup of hot deliciousness. Since you’re already late and need to rush you get that coffee to-go, like most people do. A few sips later that cup has served it’s purpose and finds the way into the next bin.
Aussie like many other nations do love their coffee. You’ll find a coffee shop literally every few steps in Sydney CBD. In Australia alone, every single minute close to 2000 take-away cups & lids are thrown out. Hardly any of them are being recycled. ResponsibleCafés.org is fighting the war on waste, one cup at a time. Already more than 4700 cafés across Australia have joined the initiative and counting. We’ve interviewed Rachel about how it’s been going.
Rachel, what do you do at Responsible Cafes and what led you to the organisation?
As we are such a tiny Team behind the scenes, my role is very diverse but my title is Head of Operations. I manage cafe liaison, work on design, creation and implementation of communication strategies and campaigns, and research ways to continue to support our cafes and ‘Keen Beans.’ I started volunteering with Responsible Cafés after seeing the effects of takeaway food waste, first hand, from setting up a beach clean up with our sister initiative Responsible Runners. I soon realised the issue had to be tackled from the source so I turned my efforts to education, support and empowerment.
Is Responsible Cafes basically just another eco label?
Absolutely not! We have steered clear of partnering with commercial companies who want to use us for greenwashing and to look better. We work to empower business owners, council leaders, corporations and members of the public to make responsible decisions to reduce waste.
Generally sustainability, fair trade or ‘responsible’ consumption is associated with paying more. What are the benefits to both coffee drinkers and coffee makers?
Responsible Cafes started with the simple idea of a cafe offering a discount to a consumer if they brought in their own cup, to encourage them and incentivise them. It is a big decision for a cafe as it effects their profit margins and the industry is very competitive but we have discovered from recent polls that consumers will go out of their way to find a cafe that offers a discount.
The idea originated from a beach cleanup initiative. How has the project changed from its beginnings?
Responsible Runners is still going! Organising monthly beach cleans across Australia, we actually have volunteers organising each individual location. Responsible Cafes works closely with businesses to help reduce their waste, and educate their consumers, as well as communicating with the community using takeaway cups as a gateway to behaviour change.
What was or is one of the biggest challenges?
There is a lot of greenwashing in the industry as the effects of single-use plastic is such a hot topic at the moment so the community can get easily confused. A consumer or business owner can believe they are already making responsible decisions but they have been misinformed, such as ‘compostable’ and ‘biodegradable’ cups.
Do you see a change in business practice and consumer behaviour? If so, how is it becoming visible?
Absolutely! We can see from the cafe registrations and surveys we conduct bi-annually that cafes are starting to look beyond the discount and the issue of the cup. Cafes are ditching other single use plastic items (no plastic bags/cutlery/pots), they are ditching straws, composting waste and offering used coffee grinds for free. There are so many ways cafes can reduce their impact and support their customers and this is something we are very passionate about.
On the go and I’ve left my reusable cup at home. What do you recommend?
Dine in. Take a load off for 5 minutes and sit in and enjoy your coffee.
Responsible Cafes has been going for 5 years and built a network of more than 4700 cafes across Australia. What’s next?
We will be launching some new How-To guides in the beginning of 2019 and have some other super exciting plans going on behind the scenes that you’ll have to stay tuned for 🙂
Do you have a reusable coffee cup? It's about time!
Learn more about Responsible Cafes. There are similar initiatives in many other countries. Next time you visit your favourite barista, bring a cup. You won't just save some money, you help to fight the war on waste, cup by cup. Thank you!
