Eliminating single-use beverage containers

Eliminating single-use beverage containers: Are you up for the Challenge?

Picture Killarney, a picturesque town in County Kerry, Ireland with a population of 14,412. It is renowned for its natural beauty, including the expansive Killarney National Park, which covers 102.89 square kilometers and features the famous Lakes of Killarney. The Park, established in 1932 and designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1981, is home to diverse flora and fauna, including Ireland's only remaining herd of native red deer. The town attracts more than 1.1 million tourists a year, so a challenge for this community is balancing the influx of demand with the need for environmental sustainability. And, from this need, the Killarney Coffee Cup Project was born.

In July 2023, Killarney become the first town in Ireland to eliminate single-use coffee cups through their Killarney Coffee Cup Project, designed to counter the significant environmental impact of single-use coffee cups in the area. The initiative involves 25 independent coffee shops and 21 hotels in Killarney.

How it works

• Customers are encouraged to bring their own reusable cups when frequenting the 51 businesses involved in the initiative, or use a deposit system for reusable takeaway cups. A €2 deposit is required for a reusable cup, which is refunded upon return to any of the 51 businesses.

Results

• Before the campaign, the town used approximately 23,000 single-use coffee cups per week, resulting in over one million cups annually and 18.5 tons of waste. Not to mention the overflowing trash cans in the streets, hardly a good look for a town that relies on tourism!
• From July 2023 to December 2023 alone, it is estimated that the prevention of over half a million cups saved over 870,000 liters of water and 279 trees.

Your Challenge

It is hard to argue with the success of this project, so here is your challenge:

• Be part of the movement to eliminate single-use beverage containers: Annually, Penn Staters recycle approximately 7.6 million water bottles alone! Bring your own reusable beverage container to campus – fill up your water at a filling station or get a discount for using your reusable cup to get your favorite coffee!
• Advocate for the elimination of single-use beverage containers on campus. A recent study conducted by students in the School of Hospitality Management, in collaboration with PepsiCo, found that students across campus are open to reducing and eliminating their use of single-use beverage containers. What can you do to support this behavior?

Bottomline, if a small town in Ireland can bring together 51 businesses together to drive sustainability, imagine what we can do on campus! Please contact Breffni Noone at bmn2@psu.edu if you want to learn more about the School of Hospitality Management/ PepsiCo single-use beverage container project.