Crowdacting at The Green Living Lab
#GreenStudentBootcampChallenge students are launching an initiative to inspire positive environmental behaviour while enjoying a cup of coffee on the go!
Did you know that most disposable cups cannot be recycled?
When you are on the go, it is easy to forget that the little things you do can have a big impact. Take that cup of coffee you pick up at the café on the way to work; have you ever thought about where it goes after you’ve had your morning pick-me-up? And what about the multitude of other people who also grab a hot drink whilst they are out and about? In the UK alone, 8 million disposable cups are thrown away every single day [1], and globally 500 billion cups are produced and used [2]. Many of these cups are a mixture of plastic and paper, making recycling in the regular way impossible; in the UK, only 1 in 400 of these cups is recycled [1].
Practical Solution
Thankfully, we can cut down on our waste production without cutting out coffee completely! Reusable cup brands such as KeepCup and ecoffee cup are great options, or you can grab your favourite mug and bring it with you when you are out and about.
Crowdacting with CollAction
“If 30 people sign up to stop using disposable cups for one month (November), then we will all commit to switching to reusable cups.”
Students have proposed a crowdaction where they will replace their disposable cups with reusable cups for all of their takeaway drinks for one month (November). They hope to not only change their own behaviour by taking part in this challenge, but also inspire others to grab their funkiest mug from the counter and take it out on the go to reduce their personal waste.
Students were inspired to launch their initiative on the innovative CollAction platform. Ron van den Akker, founder of CollAction and a guest speaker at this year’s Bootcamp Challenge programme, informed us how this online platform enables people to come together to take initiatives for positive social impact. Check out the great initiatives on the CollAction website, get involved or start your own initiative!
Join Students in Their CrowdAction & Help to Make a Positive Impact Together!
To participate, please sign up here:
https://www.collaction.org/Projects/Details/67
[1] The Guardian. 2016. Caffeine hit: what happens to Britain’s 3bn empty coffee cups?
[2] CHOICE. 2017. Let’s grab a coffee – billions of them.
An interesting documentary about the situation in the UK is ‘Hugh’s War on Waste: The Battle Continues’, Episode 3.