Fed up with a pricey coffee on campus? Here is how you can save money and save the planet!
Written by Hinako Naganuma, Sustainability Committee member
When you throw away a single-use cup at a cafe, you pay extra money for polluting the environment. Plastic cups are broken down into toxic microplastics which harm the natural environment, and paper cups need new trees to be cut for their production. Moreover, single-use cups are difficult to recycle due to their multiple ingredients and the contamination by drink. In Canada, there have been more than a billion single-use cups thrown away in a year. To make the food service more sustainable, UBC requires food businesses to charge at least $0.25 for a single-use cup based on their Zero Waste Food Ware Strategy.
To avoid the extra fee and to promote climate action, you can use a reusable cup instead of a single-use one!
1. Use your own reusable cup
If you already have your own mug, bring it when you get a drink on campus and get one without paying the extra fee to pollute the environment! If you don’t have your mug and want to get one, you can choose one from a wide selection available on/off campus. Pick one you like! And remember to bring one to a cafe; don’t just buy one for collection!
2. Don’t want to buy a mug or carry one around every time? You can borrow one for free!
Some cafes on campus provide a mug-sharing service like Mugshare (note that not all the info in the link is up-to-date) so that you can borrow a to-go reusable cup. I used Mugshare a few times before and it was very simple to use the service!
Step 1: Ask for the Mugshare cup at cafe when you order a drink
Step 2: Pay the deposit (refundable) to borrow the mug
Step 3: Return it once you finish your drink and get the deposit back in full!
*Note: Not all the cafes on campus offer the service and the deposit varies depending on the cafe.
Next time you go to a cafe, enjoy your favorite drink with a reusable cup to save money and the planet :)