A Fernie cafe is making the bold move away from disposable cups in an effort to reduce waste and change customers’ habits.
Starting April 1, Big Bang Bagels will no longer have single-use paper cups, instead offering customers four options: dine in, bring your own, buy a reusable cup or rent a mug.
“Big Bang has been operating for 10 years and right from the beginning I’ve always been interested in less waste,” said owner Carolyn Doyle.
“It’s a neat opportunity having a business because you can make these decisions to try to be more environmentally friendly.
“I think it’s always discouraged me that there’s such a high percentage of people who get coffees who end up using takeaway cups, which, of course, we’re trying our best by having ones that are recyclable and compostable, but still many of them still end up in landfill and there’s a lot of energy that goes into making those.”
On average, Big Bang sells anywhere between 100 and 200 coffees a day, the vast majority of which are takeaways.
Now, customers wanting a coffee to-go can rent a mug for $8 and receive $7.25 back when they return it.
“What we’re hoping is that people will just rethink going out for a coffee,” said Doyle.
“Just like bringing your own bags to the grocery store, which has been a process of people remembering to do that, we’re hoping that people will then remember to bring their own mug.”
The initiative is running for the month of April to coincide with Earth Month and could be extended beyond that.
Big Bang takes a number of other steps to reduce waste, moderating portions, using a bike to pick up supplies instead of driving and composting with Valley Vitals.
The cafe has been promoting the rent-a-mug initiative via social media and Doyle said feedback so far has been positive.
“I’m sure we’re going to get some disappointed people perhaps, but in the end I think the positive is going to outweigh the inconvenience,” she said.
“This community is so great because they are so open to this kind of thing and really supportive, and that makes it a great place to have a business and to fight for change for things that you believe in, so thanks to the community and all of our customers for being open to this idea.”