Conscious Cup Communities

Background

Globally it is estimated that 500 billion disposable cups are discarded to landfill or incineration every year. That’s one million cups a minute, every hour of every day of every year. These cups are virtually impossible to recycle due to the combination of plastic and paper in their design, and in Ireland we estimate that we dispose of over 22,000 of these non-recyclable cups every hour.

The Conscious Cup Campaign was started in late 2016 by a group of concerned individuals who, inspired by similar initiatives of cafes and citizens around the world, are aiming to reduce and eventually eliminate single use cups in Ireland. They met through the Zero Waste Ireland Facebook Group, and now have the support of VOICE, an environmental charity with expertise in waste prevention initiatives and the Regional Waste Offices.

How it works

It is proven that a reward system can quickly change consumer behaviour so the Conscious Cup Campaign asks Cafes to reward consumers who carry a reusable cup with a discount/incentive to encourage consumers to reuse. There are currently almost 2,000 Cafes geotagged and with your help the goal is to get to 3,000 in 2019!