00:00Mr Hope, the cafe that Yuki Byrd manages in Bermagui on the NSW far south coast is a community
00:09hub.
00:10The biggest thing that coffee does for people is bring them together.
00:15But being environmentally conscious in the hospitality industry is a challenge.
00:20Cafes suffer in the exact same way as anybody who is interested in more environmental ways
00:27to consume.
00:29Takeaway coffee cups being at the centre of the waste problem.
00:33Just down the street, Tim Northam's cafe Honor Bread is selling up to 250 takeaway
00:38coffees each day.
00:40For the privilege for people just to be able to walk down the street or drink their coffee
00:45and then throw it in the bin, I think we need to have a really big rethink.
00:51So nearly a dozen of Bermagui's cafes came together to ban disposable cups.
00:56It's now bring your own or purchase a reusable one for the price of a couple of gold coins.
01:02For a one time only fee of $3 you get your cup and then you will get that refunded when
01:09you bring that cup back.
01:10The initiative means all cafes sell the cups and any can refund them after use.
01:16Getting the majority of the town's cafes on board was crucial.
01:20The biggest fear for cafes to change across from throwaway cups to a reusable system is
01:25a fear that the customer will then go to the cafe next door.
01:30A disposable coffee cup has an average lifespan of up to 20 minutes and after the beverage
01:35is finished around 1 billion cups end up in Australian landfill each year.
01:40Cafes here in the coastal town of Bermagui are hoping the reusable system will keep cups
01:44circulating for much longer.
01:47The community has been supportive and people are getting creative.
01:51Ah, everyone should just have a go of a coffee in a goblet once in a while I reckon.
01:55It's only $3 so it's not like breaking the bank with it.
01:58I think it's a great kind of sustainable initiative.
02:01The new system was launched at the start of summer, a busy tourist period being the ultimate
02:06test.
02:07So managing things like how we're going to cope with our washing up, how we're going
02:11to make sure that we have the right volume of cups.
02:15It hits really hard with lots and lots and lots of people so I'm unsure if we're going
02:21to be able to prevail.
02:24Hopefully we will be able to.
02:25But Bermagui remains positive and wants others to follow their lead.
02:29The cafes in Bermagui are actually in one sense becoming a test case for how communities
02:36might be able to make this change themselves.
02:39Reducing landfill one latte at a time.
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