Coffee Cup Campaign
Staying in? Order Reusable!
Survey* Results
67% of customers use disposable cups
for drinking hot drinks
while sitting in coffee shops!
while sitting in coffee shops!

Campaign Purpose
Based on the survey results, PFS created a three-pronged campaign to reduce the volume of waste created by customers using disposables for hot drinks while sitting in coffee shops, as follows:
1. Encouraging individuals to stop using disposable cups for hot drinks while sitting in a coffee shop through social media
2. Writing letters to all coffee shops surveyed to let them know the results of the survey, recommending ways to help solve the problem and asking how they plan to address this issue
3. Informing the government of the survey results and asking them to pass legislation to ban the use of disposables in coffee shops for dine in.
This Unnecessary Waste Can Be Avoided!
Take Action: Individuals
What Can You Do As A Consumer?
1. Avoid coffee shops that don’t provide reusable cups
2. Always ask for a reusable cup
3. Bring your own reusable cup
4. Share this message from Plastic Free Seas through social media
5. Read up on the new Public Consultation on tableware in HK. Government is proposing regulation for catering operations and is asking for the public’s feedback. Use the form provided within the Public Consultation paper to let them know that what you think. Your voice will make a difference! But we can’t wait for future legislation – we need everyone to act now. Only use reusables when you sit in a coffee shop
6. Write to coffee shops to ask them to stop using single-use cups for customers who are staying in. (See letter templates below)
What else can you do?
1. Share our FB and IG posts
2. Update your FB profile with our profile frame to show your support.
Copy one of these templates to write a letter to a coffee shop, or create your own
Dear Coffee Shop name,
In 2019, over 11,000 tonnes of waste went to landfill every day in Hong Kong. We are creating too much waste, and much of it is unnecessary.
I went to your coffee shop located at location on date at around time and noticed that many people were sitting in your coffee shop drinking hot drinks out of disposable cups. This creates unnecessary waste and I would like to recommend a few things you can do to change this.
1. ensure your staff are asking people if they are to-stay or take-away and only give to people who are taking away
2. stop opening in locations where you cannot provide to-stay cups
3. offer an incentive for people to bring their own reusable cup
4. advertise the incentive where everyone can easily see it
Best regards,
Dear Coffee Shop name,
I went to your coffee shop located at location on date at around time and I was not asked whether I was staying in or taking away my beverage, and was given a disposable cup even though I was staying in. It is important that the staff ask all customers so that you can avoid creating waste unnecessarily by providing disposable cups to people who are staying in. If the customer does not specify, it would be helpful if the default cup is reusable, not disposable.
I hope that you will take the above into consideration. For now, I will choose where I buy my coffee based on whether the company is prioritising the environment by reducing the amount of unnecessary waste they create. I look forward to seeing a change at your coffee shop.
Best regards,
Take Action: Companies
What Can the Coffee Shops Do?
Coffee shops should not wait for future legislation but should start making changes as soon as possible.
Contact-free BYO Cup System
Due to hygiene concerns during Covid-19, many coffee shops stopped accepting customers reusable cups, and some also stopped using reusables in-house, drastically increasing the amount of waste they created through their business activities. There are ways to ensure the safety of both customers and staff with a ‘contact-free’ or ‘no-touch’ system for handling customers’ take-away cups.
1. Wash hands and surfaces regularly.
2. The customer puts their reusable cup on a tray and passes the tray to the staff.
3. The staff pours the coffee into an in-house reusable cup and then pours it into the customer’s cup, without touching the customer’s cup. Next the staff pours the milk into an in-house reusable cup which is then transferred into the customer’s cup. The staff offers the customer their cup from the tray.
If your favourite coffee shop won’t accept your cup, ask them to try the ‘contact-free’ BYO cup system!
Take Action: Government
What Can Government Do?
Social Media Campaign
Check it out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn
Catching up with a friend? Make your coffee as sustainable as your friendship! A proper coffee deserves a proper cuppa!
Most disposable coffee cups are lined with plastic making them hard to recycle, and they won’t biodegrade.