I finally stopped forgetting my cup

I finally stopped forgetting my cup

By Alex Robinson, 27th November 2024

I had a few flings before I found The One. Now we go everywhere together, me and my blue Yeti coffee cup. Not too big, leak-proof in my bag, and insulated to keep my coffee hot – it’s just right for me.

But before I built a habit that stuck, I was one of the majority (3 in 4 of us) who owned a reusable cup but usually left it at home 🤦‍♂️.

Most of us have a water bottle to hand these days, but the relative convenience of other single-use items has made them harder to ditch from our routines.

The scale of the issue is eye-watering; we get through 10.7 billion pieces of disposable packaging every year when we grab lunch on-the-go in the UK. We know that if we want to change this, people need to be both willing and able to make different choices.

Our research at Hubbub revealed that 73% of people in the UK think more needs to be done to make it easier to choose reusable alternatives to single-use food and drink packaging.

Bring Your Own Cup

Our new campaign is all about tapping into people’s emotions so they see the value in remembering their own cup. We’re creating a social norm around reusables, reminding people that it’s worth it to #BYOC (bring your own cup) and rewarding those who do.

The campaign’s running far and wide, from TikTok to your favourite Spotify playlist. We’ve even brought it to life with a reuse roadshow in Cardiff, Manchester and London. The BYOC pop-up is grabbing people’s attention with a playful maze installation and a van giving away free coffee – as long as you’ve brought your own cup, of course.

The pop-up brings together a lot of what we know about engaging the public and shifting habits.

Here’s a quick rundown of eight behaviour change techniques you might spot in action:

• Reward: All drinks are free when you bring your own cup, to celebrate those who choose to reuse!
• Simplify: Make the desired action(s) the default. It’s all about reusable cups at the pop-up. We’re also only offering oat or soy milk, and there are no disposable cups on site.
• Visualise: Free temporary tattoo? Yes please. Free temporary tattoo that’s a fun reminder to bring your own cup? Even better.
• Hook: We’re using the hook of free coffee to remind people about the reusable cups already in their cupboards. We’ve seen that people spot the van one day, and bring their cup the next!
• Positivity: Interactive elements focus on the benefits of bringing your own cup, like getting a discount in most cafes. It’s worth it, every time.
• Framing: No fancy reusable cup? No problem. If it’s safe to hold hot liquid we’ll fill it up with coffee. We’re reframing the idea of ‘a reusable’ – there are lots of occasions when a mug will do!
• Fun theory: Meet the Reusa-ball Maze! We’ve been engaging people with gamification to keep their attention and make our messaging more memorable. It means those without a reusable can still take part and leave with a smile.
• A timely nudge: Our van’s been parked up in city centres right next to big offices for 4 days each, giving time for people to come back with their cup each day, reinforcing the habit of remembering their reusable.

Put all this together, and by making sustainable actions achievable, obvious and attractive, we inspire people to act.

Over the course of three weeks, we served a total of 2,705 coffees in reusable cups and had 4,038 conversations about reusable cups.

What's next?

While personal reusable cups make a big difference, they’re not a perfect solution. We need businesses and government to do their bit too and make it easier for people to reuse.

Campaigns like #BYOC are there to provide evidence of the public’s appetite for change and inspire those with real influence to go further, faster.

The gold standard is to also offer a returnable cup scheme: when cups are borrowed, returned, washed and reused plenty of times, they can have much lower environmental impact than single-use alternatives. A returnable cup scheme means they’re always available for those who forgot or don’t own their own. They’re also a powerful daily reminder of how much waste we’ve been creating, and that another way is possible.

Watch this space for an exciting new project coming soon 👀.