A zero-waste cup trial has received $10,000 in funding from the Wellington City Council to get the cups in 90 cafés by the end of August. The trial last year was described as “outstanding” by those involved and all 14 cafés agreed to pay for it by the end.
“People like the feel of the cup,” said Again Again co-founder Nada Piatek. “People said the stainless steel was weird for a start, but actually the sense of cleanliness was a positive.”
The cups can be “checked out” for $3, which is refunded when the cup is returned to a participating café, where it is washed and sterilised. However, there is no way to tell how many cups hadn’t been returned.
“There are people out there with three or four cups on their desk and they'll eventually think ‘Oh, I should take those back’,” Piatek said.
Again Again aims to save at least 60,000 cups by the end of the six-month roll-out. Thirty cafés are waiting to sign up and 150 have expressed interest.
