To sustain a thriving café culture, we must ditch the disposable . 1 March 2021

"There's no doubt we live in a disposable society—so much of our lives is about convenient, on-the-run transactions. But such a speedy pace encourages the 'takeaway and throwaway' culture that we so desperately need to change," Dr. Sandhu says.

"Educating and informing people about the issues of single-use coffee is effective—people generally want to do the right thing—but knowing what's right and acting upon it are two different things, and at the moment, there are several barriers that are impeding potential progress.

"For example, if your favorite coffee shop doesn't Nearly 300 billion takeaway coffee cups ending up in offer recyclable or compostable cups, it's unlikely to landfill each year. Credit: Pixabay stop you from getting a coffee; we need that coffee hit and we need it now. So, strike one.

"Then, with the popularity of arty, patterned Takeaway coffees—they're a convenient start for cups on the rise, you may think you're buying a millions of people each day, but while the caffeine recyclable option. But no—most takeaway coffee perks us up, the disposable cups drag us down, cups are in fact lined with a waterproof , with nearly 300 billion ending up in landfill each which is not only non-recyclable, but also a year. contaminant. Strike two.

While most coffee drinkers are happy to make a "Finally, if you happen upon a coffee shop that switch to sustainable practices, new research from does offer recyclable coffee cups, once you're the University of South Australia shows that an finished, where do you put it? A lack of appropriate absence of infrastructure and a general waste disposal infrastructure means that even 'throwaway' culture is severely delaying compostable cups are ending up in landfill. Strike sustainable change. three.

It's a timely finding, particularly given the new bans "As it happens, compostable cups need to go into a on single-use coming into effect in South green organics bin, but these bins might not be Australia today, and the likelihood of takeaway easily accessible in public settings like the standard coffee cups taking the hit by 2022. shopping precincts."

Lead researcher, UniSA's Dr. Sukhbir Sandhu, While the South Australian government is moving in says the current level of waste is the right direction with its Replace the Waste unsustainable and requires a commitment from campaign, changing our 'grab and go' culture is individuals, retailers, and government agencies challenging. alike to initiate change. "It's important to drive home clear, strong

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messages about single-use plastics and their impact on the environment," Dr. Sandhu says.

"The more we can drive people to choose reusable cups, the more uptake we'll see. People like to mimic what their colleagues, friends and peers do, especially when it is the right thing."

More information: Sukhbir Sandhu et al, Environment friendly takeaway coffee cup use: Individual and institutional enablers and barriers, Journal of Cleaner Production (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125271

Provided by University of South Australia APA citation: To sustain a thriving café culture, we must ditch the . (2021, March 1) retrieved 23 September 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2021-03-sustain-caf-culture-ditch- disposable.html

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