Students’ thoughts on £2 reusable cups at the cafeteria
While buying your morning coffee at The Roastery, you probably wondered why you had to pay £2 extra. This additional cost is a deposit for your Re-Universe cup, which can be refunded by bringing it back to the return point within 7 days. The return point is right across from the Roastery, with clear instructions, and the process takes about one minute to complete. Simply return your cup and tap your card!
This scheme, run by Imperial’s hospitality department, will continue for six months and, if successful, will expand across campus. This aligns with their aims to achieve net zero by 2040, as it reduces and eventually eliminates the use of disposable cups. Most disposable cups are not 100% recyclable because of the plastic-lining inside the cup. This means throwing the disposable cup in the recycling bin increases the carbon footprint of the coffee-lover and, when you recall the long queues at your favourite cafe, you know it would add up to much more collectively. The Roastery uses about 55,000 cups within a single year, according to Imperial. This could amount to over 2 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year.
For the curious reader, Felix went on a field trip to try the new scheme out for you. We appreciated the sturdy cups with grooves, which stopped our hands from burning. We saw people returning cups and reusing them to get their coffee and, when asked for their opinions on the scheme, people gave mixed responses. Those who did like the change mentioned the £2 refund, which incentivised them to return the cup and they already realised the long-term savings from their coffee purchases. When calculated, a student, who buys one coffee every day and pays a 30p levy per disposable cup, would pay an estimate of £45 extra per year, much more than a refundable £2.
Concurrently, another pointed out that reusable cups alleviate the burden of carrying their own personal cup and thinking of washing it, because they can simply return it each time, and that makes the cup free.
Some students were sceptical about the scheme saying it defeated the purpose of the “to-go cup” because they kept having to think about bringing it all the way back. When asked if they would want to see this scheme across campus, they strongly expressed that they would end up travelling off campus to buy their coffee, avoiding the reusable cups. They felt the cups were a “forced behavioural change for students.” Additionally, they said they’d like to have the option of both reusable and disposable cups for convenience.
Although the forced behaviour change is unsettling, change is always uncomfortable, and the world will never be a better place if we stay in our comfort zone. A memorable interviewee mentioned “make efforts, push boundaries, and everybody does a little bit to achieve positive change,” and we couldn’t agree more.
