Coffee lovers encouraged to 'Reuse' for Exeter

Coffee lovers are being encouraged to drink from reusable cups when getting their take-outs in Exeter.

Exeter City Council’s Recycling department will be handing out free limited edition Denis the Dustcart KeepCups at a series of giveaway events around the city. The aim is that people will use the cups as a cup for life.

Disposable coffee cups are a big problem. Two and a half billion are thrown away every year.That’s around  7 million thrown away every day in the UK – or 5 thousand every minute.

If stacked one inside the other, after a year they’d reach 25,000KM into space. The International Space Station orbits only 400KM above the Earth.

The problem is that standard takeaway coffee cups cannot be recycled easily, because they are coated in a thin layer of plastic to meet food hygiene regulations. Some coffee shops offer compostable takeaway cups that biodegrade much faster than the normal ones. That’s fine, but they’re still going to be binned, and that’s still waste, still using up resources to make new cups, still costing the Earth and people dear.

The solution is for people to carry their own reusable takeaway coffee cup. Some come in stylish designs – none more so than the new Denis the Dustcart KeepCup!

The Council has a limited number of these cups to give away, and each will come with a loyalty card. Simply present the card when using the Denis cup at one of three partner cafés and you will receive a stamp. Collect nine stamps by the 31 December  and you’ll get your tenth drink free!

The following cafés will be partnering the Council through the campaign:

The Daisy Café, Fore Street, Heavitree
Café at 36, Cowick Street, St Thomas
The Café at Roman Gate, Waterstones, High Street, Exeter

Giveaway dates and locations will be announced the day before on the Denis the Dustcart Facebook and Twitter pages, so follow Denis if you want to claim your free cup and start collecting your stamps.