Source: University of Otago
Bye bye single-use cups … Chatime Manager Violetta Li with the reusable cups the bubble tea and fruit juice outlet uses now, in The Link.
Chatime on the Dunedin campus is the first Chatime nationwide to go single-use cup free and if that is a success, others could follow.
Manager and Otago commerce graduate Violetta Li hopes people get behind the move.
While getting rid of single-use plastic was a condition of the lease in The Link, she felt it was the right thing to do anyway and knows students want businesses to be sustainable, “we do hear those voices … that’s the future”.
The bubble tea and fruit juices outlet is following the lead of Café Albany by using IdealCup’s CupCycling with the Swappa app, and St David’s Café has just joined as well.
How to Swappa
CupCylcing with Swappa founder Steph Fry says with the free Swappa app, customers scan the cups in and out as they use then return them.
Just like a library book, CupCycling with Swappa is free when people return the cup within 14 days. They get email reminders before their credit card is charged $10 for an unreturned cup, which she says covers the cost of replacing the cup in the fleet.
The app’s options include swap n’ go, and if people do not want another drink, the cups can be retuned with drop ‘n go. Customers can also get a round of drinks for their office or friends as well, using the group grab option.
The cups can be returned used at any participating outlets on campus and the outlets take care of the cleaning.
Why Swappa?
The cups can be ground down into their raw state and made into other reusable plastic products by the company’s manufacturer in Wellington, so they are not going to end up in landfills.
“It’s not so much about promoting the cup, or our brand, it’s about changing behaviour with systems that are easy to use,” Steph says. “It’s the only future for takeaways – and it’s not just limited to cups, it’s food containers as well.”
“I know in the next couple of years reusable systems will be normalised, standard behaviour.”
Starting reusable
Steph and husband Nick became interested in reusable cups when they decided to make their Wellington-based coffee roastery business the first to become carbon neutral in New Zealand and realised how much waste single-use cups create.
They could not find any suitable reusable cups to promote so Nick designed IdealCup over two years, then that grew to producing cups so many businesses across New Zealand could choose to reuse. And in 2017, they launched CupCylcing, New Zealand’s first cup swap system for cafés.
“We knew this was our calling. It was our time to step up and lead the change for New Zealand. We wanted to … revolutionise the way we all do takeaway coffee every day in Aotearoa,” Steph says.
Updating reusable
When, the COVID pandemic started decimating the hospitality industry, Steph and Nick regrouped to work out “how to do it better,” and spent 18 months developing the Swappa app, which was launched in October last year.
Swappa ensures cups are actually returned and are easily traceable, while also allowing the couple to capture live data, so they can make sure cups are available all the time
Every IdealCup has a lifetime guarantee so if it is deemed unusable at any time, IdealCup will pick it up and replace it at the café for free – but they hardly ever need replaced.
Steph says having Chatime go 100 per cent reusable was like getting the best Christmas present.
“People like Violetta are the ones who are going to make the most impact to help us make change. They’re leading by example and showing how easy it is to choose to reuse, not single use … we can’t do what we’re doing without their support.”
– Kōrero by Gail Goodger
