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.
I mean you could even return the cup at the airport so if you forget to return it in town you could deposit it when you leave.
It's just like bringing your own bags to the store, sorting your trash for recycling or returning bottles and cans to the store.
Just return the cup and get your deposit back.