We like to look after the environment at Smart Restaurants especially within the food and drink industry. We have previously looked into how to recycle your takeaway meals and to not always go by the ‘use by date’ you see on the food packaging as food can usually last longer than the date you see. We now look into ways you can save money in the takeaway drink industry and be environmentally friendly at the same time.
The Throw Away Society
Our addiction to takeaway tea, coffee and hot chocolate is creating a shocking 25,000 tons of waste each year which is made up from about 2.5 billion coffee cups. Thousands of coffee cups are used everyday, consumed within a matter of minutes and then thrown away contributing to the amount of cardboard that we waste which is not doing the environment any good. Many chains have tried to use environmentally friendly packaging so that it is a better for the environment, but what is better than eliminating the use of coffee cups altogether. Similar to the 5p bag we now have to purchase in many supermarkets and shops across the country, if we have to either buy a coffee cup or save money by using our own then maybe it will make us think twice about reusing our own coffee cups for our next takeaway drink.
Pret A Manger
From Monday Pret A Manger will be trialling the reusable coffee cup campaign which will then run until the end of the month of April. Pret A Manger are going to trial this in over 200 stores located in the Greater London area by offering a 25p discount for those customers who use a reusable coffee cup for their drink to take away. 25p is a great amount to save each time, especially for those busy workers who like to grab a drink on the way to and from work. In working week this could save you a whole £2.50 which could contribute to your next drink at Pret A Manger.
PAUL
In association with National Coffee week, PAUL are introducing a new range of indulgent varieties of coffee and hot chocolate. At the same time PAUL are starting a new PAUL Cares Policy which provides customers with the option to use a reusable cup which will save them 10p across the 35 outlets that they have in the UK. PAUL are also offering customers that don’t already have a reusable cup the option of purchasing one at a one off cost of £3.50. The PAUL Cares Policy has been introduced to encourage customers to be more environmentally conscious and to save money at the same time.
Image: PAUL
At Smart Restaurants we hope that this sort of incentive will be put into all coffee shops across the UK such as Costa Coffee, Starbucks and Caffè Nero. We do believe that if customers bring in their own reusable coffee cup then this will help eliminate the amount of waste we have building up each year. If there is then a cost for having to purchase a cup or a slightly more expensive reusable cup then customers will start being more environmentally conscious. For those that haven’t already notice you will see that most coffee shops do offer a bespoke range of reusable coffee cups, so the next time that you visit one make sure you take a look and if you make a purchase reuse this coffee cup every time you fancy a hot drink from your favourite coffee shop.
