© Freiburg Cup Customers pay €1 for a reusable cup that can be returned to any participating business in the city center. How often have you found yourself needing a coffee on the run, yet without a reusable mug? Does it prevent you from ordering that coffee? Unless you’re Bea Johnson, the answer is likely "no." You take the coffee to go, and, if you’re like me, feel incredibly guilty for the duration of the drink. But what if you could get a reusable coffee mug on the spot — an affordable, convenient option that eliminates a good amount of waste? (And I’m not talking about the $25 themed ones that Starbucks hawks aggressively at Christmastime.) The city of Freiburg, Germany, has come up with an excellent solution to the problem of rampant coffee cup waste and human forgetfulness. In November 2016, it launched the Freiburg Cup , a hard plastic to-go cup with a disposable lid that’s provided to businesses by the city. Customers pay a €1 deposit for the cup, which can be returned to any one of 100 stories in the city center. These stores will disinfect and reuse the cups, up to 400 times. Participating […]
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