Bean and gone: Killarney coffee shops first in country to ban disposable cups
Coffee Tuesday Valerie Buckley, Niamh The Mug&bean, O'sullivan Bar; Bowler, Sheep Cup Hostel; At And On Colm The Killarney Launch Black Project Ellen Sheahan, Reidy's Of Picture:
Killarney is to become the first town in the country to rid itself of disposable or single-use coffee cups.
Coffee cup litter in Killarney and its surrounding 25,000 acre national park has prompted the town to implement the idea.
"If it can be done in Killarney, it can be done anywhere," Killian Treacy of Luna coffee shop and the Killarney Coffee Cup Project said at Killarney House, where the project was launched.
With more than one million tourists a year, and a thirsty local population, coffee to go is a common sight in what is the second busiest tourist destination outside Dublin.
However, voluntary national park clean-ups revealed one of the most common forms of litter found in the park was disposable coffee cups.
It was the litter in the park which prompted Mr Treacy and other catering interests in the sustainable tourism Killarney committee to take strong action to tackle the problem.
He said: "What sparked this was what way can we eradicate the problem?
The only solution was cups that are not throwaway, the project believed. The local sustainable tourism committee puts the number of single use coffee cups at one million.
The Killarney Coffee Cup Project will see an end to all disposable cups later this month.
"We are hoping for a mindset change. So that when you leave the house in the morning, bringing with you phone, wallet, keys and coffee cup will be the norm," Mr Treacy said.
Tourists and visitors will have three options — bring their own reusable cup, purchase the redeemable 2GoCup, or sit down and have the coffee in the café.
Customers at Mr Treacy's premises, Luna, which is one of a number of popular cafe and take away outlets in the new outdoor dining area in Killarney "are really behind the move", he said.
The five star Hotel Dunloe Castle is equally on board.
Jason Clifford, general manager of the hotel at the foothills of the Gap of Dunloe, said saving 18.5 tonnes of rubbish and protecting Killarney’s "beautiful environment" was the goal.
"We want to do the right thing," he said.
Already more than 40 hotels and coffee shops in Killarney are participating.
The Killarney businesses have teamed up with 2GoCup, a deposit and return solutions company, which is supplying Killarney's reusable cups.
This means Killarney is now part of a network of of 350 locations from Galway to Dublin airport, so a tourist from Killarney hopping on a plane in Dublin Airport can redeem their €2 deposit.
The move by Killarney coffee shops will not make the coffee cheaper but it will ensure the price of coffee remains the same for customers as they will not have to impose the upcoming 20c tax for takeaway coffee in the new so-called "latte levy".
The Killarney coffee project expect other towns will watch the initiative and will plan to implement similar schemes.