Koha Cups scheme creator overwhelmed by Hawke's Bay's response

Cascara's Isaac Olssen (right) is the first cafe to officially come board with Zeb White's (left) Koha Cups, with customers already opting for the reusable alternative. Photo / Warren Buckland

Zeb White now has so many coffee mugs, she's had to squeeze them all into a friend's garden shed.

With more than 200 donated in two weeks, White is now well on her way to reaching her goal of supplying local Hawke's Bay cafes with takeaway coffee mugs.

Launched last month, Koha Cups aims to make recycled coffee mugs, received as donations or purchased from op shops, available at participating cafes for people to use in place of takeaway cups.

White said she had been overwhelmed by response for the scheme, with more than 220 mugs crowding the front section of her Te Awanga house bus before a friend offered to store excess in her garden shed.

"I thought it would take a lot longer [to get so many]."

One mug she received came wrapped in a Hawke's Bay Today article about Koha cups, with the message 'love what you do, good luck'.

She said it was great that so many people recognised the name and was grateful to six youths who created signs explaining how the scheme worked.

While many cafes have thrown their support behind the idea, Cascara cafe in Hastings is the first official cafe where Koha Cups are available for use.

Isaac Olssen, of Cascara, said many cafes had looked at different ways of reducing their waste.

"I believe in it personally," he said. "I did think we need to do something about it."

Zeb White has collected more than 220 mugs as part of her new venture, Koha Cups, which aims to supply local cafes with repurposed and reusable takeaway coffee mugs. Photo / Warren Buckland

He felt schemes like this needed strong buy-in from other cafes as well as consumers.

"I think that if the Government came out and banned cups, like they did with plastic bags, then we'd just get on with it and adapt. A lot of it comes down to people."

Location was also a big factor, he said.

Olssen said the response from customers was very positive and several had already opted for the alternative.

White said she was thrilled to hear this, as it meant there was less coffee waste going to landfill - about 295 million single-use coffee cups are thrown away in New Zealand each year.

"There's no cost to the customer or the cafe. I want to emphasis the kaupapa of this is to reduce the amount of plastic or even paper that's going to landfill," she said.

White still hopes to collect more cups, estimating she'll need more than 500 to supply local cafes.

The Black Shed Napier cafe in Meeanee has also come on board, offering the takeaway alternative as well as acting as a drop-off point.

Clean, unchipped coffee mugs of a regular size can also be dropped off at 2/77 Shakespeare Road, Bluff Hill, and at Unpakd and Two Lippy Ladies in Napier.

Mugs can also be dropped at 216 Grays Rd, Hastings, and left in the basket inside the fence line.

People can get in touch with White or learn more about Koha Cups via facebook.com/kohacups/ or via email at kohacups@gmail.com