It’s Plastic Free July, and I'm challenging myself to find alternatives to single use plastic for an entire month - and to write a daily blog on the most interesting parts of the experience. Today I considered buying a reusable coffee cup from Coffee Club.
As Coffee Club is so close to the Conservation Council, we often have dine in meetings there. And now that they’re selling reusable coffee cups, we can get takeaway coffee without polluting the environment with single use plastic.
At least, I thought we could. On closer inspection I realised that that these cups are wrapped in single use plastic!
Do these cups represent where most people are at in their plastic free journeys? Do you think the majority of people care about the environment, but still want to be reassured by ‘hygienic’ plastic packaging?
Hygiene is important, but it’s not accurate or sustainable to associate plastic with cleanliness.
Coffee Club are so close to getting it right - they could lose the plastic wrappers and steam the cups to sterilise them for customers who ask.
Still, it’s great to see a mainstream brand make progress!
Why do you think plastic packaging persists? Do we associate it with hygiene, or is it something else?