Sayonara, Single Use! ‘Keep Cups’ are Back - The Gloss Magazine

Sayonara, Single Use! ‘Keep Cups’ are Back

With the introduction of a new ‘latte levy’ by the Irish government, reusable coffee cups are officially back – here’s why, and where to find chic ones

Today, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications announced that the Landmark Circular Economy Act has been signed into law – an Act that, in part, will introduce a small charge on disposable cups for takeaway coffees. Sayonara, single-use!

Splitting commenters down the middle, the new ‘latte levy’ is to some a welcome, overdue measure, given the 200 million single-use cups sent to landfill or incineration every day in Ireland. Fair – we could all do with using less plastic. To others, it puts pressure on the businesses that sell coffee, or rather, the people that run the businesses that sell the coffee. Also fair, as the burden of these decisions should be shared by the people that run the government that make the rules and not just the people that run the businesses. 

Reusable cups, affectionately known as keep-cups by their proud owners, were widely in use for almost a decade there before the pandemic. The cups were then banned citing health risk in most if not all cafés in Ireland throughout 2020. Only recently have cafés and coffee-sellers begun to tentatively accept them once again. After all, climate crisis or no climate crisis, threat of Covid-19 infection is proving to persist.

So, now, we can safely say reusable coffee cups are back. Because despite the consternation this levy has already started to cause coffee retailers, this measure is very likely to work in reducing disposable cup use. The data confirms this…

Using the 2002 plastic bag levy as an example…

Prior to the introduction of the plastic bag levy, plastic bags made up 5 per cent of all litter in the country. This was LBT – Life Before Totes. If your memory goes back that far (I am so young that it barely does) you will remember seeing plastic bags everywhere – in public parks, on beaches, dangling from trees. Widespread use of plastic bags was seriously reduced by the levy and society started to swap the plastic for Bags For Life and reusable shopping bags.

By 2014, plastic bags only accounted for 0.13 per cent of all litter in Ireland. So, in the end, the levy reduced plastic bag use in the country by around 95 per cent. Levies and charges on use of single-use plastic, though unpopular, can be incredibly effective.

Avoid the levy and assist the earth with one of these chic reusable coffee cups…

Huskee Reusable Coffee Cup in Natural, €17.00, available at Industry & Co.

KEEPCUP Black Thermal KeepCup, €33.95, available at Arnotts.

Chillys Second Series Coffee Cup, Blush Pink, €36.00, available at Brown Thomas.

YETI Stackable Cup in White, €29.99, available at Arnotts.

Ekobo Takeaway Mug – Bamboo – Persimmon Orange, €16.50, available at Industry & Co.

Main featured image via @pernilleteisbaek

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