Cut your coffee cup consumption, Byron

Simon Alderton, Byron Bay.

It surprises me how environmentally conscious Byron Bay is awash with disposable coffee cups. People don’t seem to be in a great hurry in other aspects of Byron life (especially driving the roads) so why the need for so many take away coffees?

The practice of many local cafes is only aiding this environmental travesty. Several cafes in Byron only serve coffee in take away cups. Others will serve coffee in disposable cups unless one asks otherwise.

And then there are baristas that serve customers ordering take away coffees first. I was in a popular local cafe the other day when a customer who ordered his coffee after me, received his before me only because, I assume, it was take away.

Rather than punishing customers for ordering their coffees in a glass or cup, cafes should reward us with cheaper coffees. Charging extra for take away coffees would work, but in competitive market of Byron cafes this is unlikely to happen soon.

So, its up to us consumers, to insist on ordering that daily coffee in a reusable cup. After all, do we really need to run frantically around the streets sipping from plastic cups? It’s really a most un-Byron look!