BYO coffee cup on menu

Rotorua cafes aren't rushing to follow the lead of Nelson City cafe owners asking coffee customers to bring their own cups.

Nelson's cafe and takeaway outlets are taking recycling to a new level by encouraging customers to bring their own cups and containers rather than taking away plastic and polystyrene ones from their shops.

The idea is part of Nelson's new Bring Your Own Container (BYOC) scheme, aimed at reducing the mountain of waste dumped into landfills each year.

Owner of Rotorua's Triple One Five Cafe, John Knight, said the idea was a good one, but the decision would be up to each cafe.

He said his cafe was part of Rotorua Sustainable Tourism Charter, a group committed to conserving all natural and human environments. His business was always looking at ways to help the environment. "I think it's a great idea. If it can help the environment then businesses should look at it. Although we don't advertise it, our regular customers come in with their own cups and we fill them up."

Mr Knight said he wasn't sure how many of his customers brought in their own cups but on average he had about 15 takeaway coffee customers a day. Staff always made sure any cups brought in for filling were clean.

Indigo Cafe owner Cherie Flay said although the idea was a good one her takeaway cups were part of her advertising.

Her business always gave a high quality product and having the cafe name on the product was important, she said.

"There is also the concern of health, when it comes to someone bringing in their own cup. You can't run the risk of putting a coffee you make into an unhygienic cup."

Nelson's BYOC scheme is believed to be the first of its kind in New Zealand and is the brainchild of the Transition Nelson Waste Group.

"Both the environment and our pockets suffer as we are paying for packaging that we immediately throw away," the group's spokesman, Chris Ward, said.

Nelson City Council sustainability co-ordinator Karen Lee said the BYOC scheme showed that being environmentally friendly did not mean being anti-business.

"This project is a great way of demonstrating that both consumers and businesses understand the need to act more sustainably."