Killarney used to accept it as a price of being a tourist town: ubiquitous disposable coffee cups spilling from bins, littering roads and blighting the area’s national park.

The County Kerry town went through about 23,000 cups a week – more than a million a year – adding up to 18.5 tonnes of waste.

Not any more. Three months ago, Killarney became the first town in Ireland to phase out single-use coffee cups. If you want a takeaway coffee from a cafe or hotel, you must bring your own cup or pay a €2 deposit for a reusable cup that is returned when the cup is given back.

  • Blue and Orange@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Very good system. We all need to get into the habit of bringing our own bottles/cups and reusable bags when we're out and about.

    • Syrc@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That honestly seems like a hassle. Long trips and stuff I understand, but if I’m just hanging with my friends with nothing on me I don’t want to carry a bag just to put a cup in it.

      The deposit system they’re using in that town seems much better to me, as long as that’s an option I’m on board.

      • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        it's a return to tradition. few hundred years ago you'd have your sword and your tankard on your belt as part of your daily carry

      • ganove@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        The deposit system would be great to see for take away/ delivery food as well. Here in Germany we have it for coffee cups and bottles/ cans you buy from the supermarket. Works great and is really easy to adapt to, just the garbage from Take away food is still a pain in the ass.

        • bob_lemon@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, it would be pretty cool, especially since recycling isn't even an option for Pizza boxes.

          Although I can imagine that a reusable pizza box is actually worse in terms of CO2. Production and cleaning might be worse over the projected lifetime than the current system.

      • Elivey@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Tiny inconveniences in our lives are far less important than the billions of tons of pollution we create every year…

        • Syrc@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Sure, but the deposit system doesn’t create pollution either and is also a much smaller inconvenience.

    • m-p{3}@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      I have a collapsible coffee cup made of silicone, works pretty well and barely takes any space at all in my bag.