Green Caffeen has arrived in Queanbeyan. Photo: Supplied.
It’s the sustainable swap-and-go coffee cup system already available in the ACT and Snowy Monaro, and quickly spreading across the Capital Region.
Green Caffeen launched in Queanbeyan on Friday 28 January and the Eurobodalla, Snowy Valleys and Wingecarribee local government areas are set to follow later this year.
A South Coast start-up, Green Caffeen uses recycled plastic to make reusable cups that take the cleaning onus away from the user and put it on the cafe.
Green Caffeen cupholders simply take their cup into a partnering cafe and swap it for a fresh cup filled with coffee.
The organisation works with a number of universities, local governments and businesses across the country, in the hope of reducing waste and promoting the circular economy.
Queanbeyan’s Cafe Veloce, The Mill Cafe and Riverbank of Queanbeyan Cafe, RnR’s Diner in Bungendore and Concept Coffee Bar and Cafe in Braidwood are the first five Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) cafes to commit to the project. They join 130 cafes already operating in the ACT and Snowy Monaro.
QPRC is the first of several members of the Canberra Region Joint Organisation (CRJO) to launch the program. The Snowy Valleys, Eurobodalla and Wingecarribee will join in the first half of this year.
For Green Caffeen co-founder Damien Clarke, the growth across the region is evidence that local governments are refocusing on the planet, as communities begin to move on from COVID-19.
“We’ve had 1.2 million uses of our product so far, and in the ACT we have about 7000 people across the region that use our program on a fairly regular basis,” Mr Clarke said.
“That’s a bit of a stamp of approval … we know that it works.
“If you’ve ever tried to bring your reusable cup to a cafe during COVID, or maybe you’re just hopeless at hanging onto them, it has been a pretty ordinary experience. The good thing about our system is that the cups are all washed and sanitised within the cafe, so the cafes are really comfortable handling those cups, knowing where they’ve been.
“We’ve designed Green Caffeen to be a complete no-brainer, like a local library service. You check a cup out and check it back in again later. It’s a free service for consumers, plus, you can have two cups out at once, so it doesn’t matter if you forget your cup; you’ve got another one built into your phone wherever you go.”
The service is free for all cafes and customers. Businesses can register their interest online and individuals can download the app from the website or app stores, ready to simply scan, swap and go. Find out more on the Green Caffeen website.
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