Choose to Reuse Campaign
The SEE Change WasteLess group invites Canberrans to replace single-use cups with reusable cups. Australians use 1.84 billion single-use cups for coffee, tea and hot chocolate in a year, with nearly all going to landfill. Such a waste of resources! More information here
During July 2025, members of the WasteLess group approached cafes across Canberra and found that 98% allowed customers to bring in their own cup. If your café does not allow BYO cups, then you will find a café nearby that does allow BYO cups.
Frequently Asked Questions
Isn’t my single-use cup recyclable?
There is great confusion in Canberra on where to dispose of single-use cups. ACT Government used to advise that single-use cups be placed in the recycling bin. However, the ACT government now requires that single-use cups be placed in the landfill (red) bin. All single-use cups end up in landfill or worse, as rubbish across the landscape.
Aren’t single-use cups made of paper?
Many single-use cups are made of paper. However, they have a plastic lining on the inside to hold the hot liquid contents. Without that plastic lining, the liquid would simply soak through the paper. The plastic lining means that single-use cups must be placed in the landfill bin.
My coffee shop doesn’t offer reusable options. What do I do?
Next time you are in the shop, present them with your reusable cup. In the unlikely event that they don’t allow you to use your cup, ask if they have any plans to allow them in the future. Have a look at other coffee shops in the same area to find one that offers a reusable option. You could politely tell your old coffee shop that you have switched cafés as the new one did provide a reusable option.
Why replace single-use cups?
Single-use cups are not readily recyclable
Single-use cups are not usually compostable
Single-use cups take vast amounts of water, paper and energy to make (& cause tonnes of methane and CO2 emissions).
Your favourite café spends thousands of dollars every year on single-use cups (which makes your coffee more expensive).
The ACT Government spends millions of dollars cleaning up the mess from single-use packaging.
Isn’t using a dine-in cup better than using your own reusable cup?
A crockery dine-in cup is a reusable cup just like your own reusable cup. Hence, it is just as good as using your own reusable cup. In some ways it is better than a reusable cup as you don’t have to remember to take your own cup, and you can relax and enjoy your cuppa without rushing off.
However, a single-use cup dine-in cup is much worse than using a reusable cup for all the reasons described above.
I don’t have a reusable cup. Where can I buy one?
Reusable cups can be bought online, some cafés, kitchenware stores and major retail chains. Reusable cups can be made from a variety of materials, including plastic, glass, pottery or stainless steel.
What is a swap system?
In a typical swap system, the customer buys a cup and can then bring it back many times, each time swapping it for a new cup. One such system is Good cup. For more information about how cafes in Bermagui have implemented their swap system using Good Cup, see this article. In Canberra, you can get a Good cup from the Stepping Stone Cafes in Strathnairn and Dickson.
Another scheme is Cercle. This is best suited for cafes and coffee carts in offices or facilities where customers will use and return the cups within the premises. However, they are also developing options for other cafes as well, as in this trial in Port Douglas.