Filed in:

2024-07-04 12:16:58

Georgie Shannon

5 Ways The Coffee Cup Challenge Actually Challenged Me!

This year, same as last year, I will be taking part in The 2 Minute Foundation’s Annual Coffee Cup Challenge. I know these challenges might seem small however this is a campaign that genuinely changed my purchasing behaviour, shifted my perspective and challenged my ‘everyday’.


You can make your free pledge to sign up here.


It develops your every-day preparedness.

First two weeks I barely had coffee or hot chocolate out. I kept forgetting my reusable cup and water bottle. I missed out on countless ‘spontaneous’ outdoor coffees and hot-chocs. By the end of the challenge I had turned my haphazard running out the house with no make up into a sleek morning routine any 5am granola girl would be jealous of!


But it genuinely increased my awareness of my predisposition to ‘oh I’ll get it when I’m out’ attitude. When in fact I have everything I need already in my home. I just need to slow down, think about it and prepare my equipment for the day. 


Start to notice ALL the single use materials.

It’s a chain reaction like no other. It starts off with cups and then snowballs into noticing the overwhelming amount of single use items that we are living with in our day to day lives. I admit it was a bit much at first - you feel like you are doing well with your no cups but then everything else twangs a thought of ‘this is single use”. Overall I haven’t reduced my single waste plastic completely - but as a household we have definitely made some permanent swaps. I noticed I was buying out less and less - instead choosing to eat in or make sandwiches and lunch at home where I knew I wouldn’t be buying things in unrecyclable, single use packaging.


It goes beyond plastic too - it really opened my eyes to materials in general and how lots of things we already have in our homes (theme here!).

Highlights resistant attitudes.

The more frequently you ask to use your own cup in public, the more likely you are to bump into resistant attitudes. Start scene: I was in a random Travelodge that was attached to a service station which had c@$ta. I didn’t have my reusable mug to hand - it was buried deep in the car under my camping gear. 


I took a mug from my Travelodge room to the c@$ta counter and asked for a coffee to take back to my room. I was refused. He said it needed to be their own branded costa mugs or needed a lid. I said okay and used the mug but said I didn’t need the plastic lid. I was refused again. I asked him why and he said about the policy of spills etc. I took the cup and lid.


Next morning, same server. I took the cup and the lid from the day before and asked for a coffee again and he refused again. I laughed because I thought he was joking, but no. He said they weren’t allowed to use the cup because it was a single-use cup. I didn’t get another coffee. I have checked c@$ta’s policy and they state that ‘they are not fussy’ about what cup it is. So perhaps it was a personal issue with the server because he seemed a little too pleased about the whole thing!


Coffee and challenges facilitate conversations

“I’ll use my cup please.” 

“Are you still doing that coffee cup challenge?”

“Yeah”

“How are you finding it?”


Signing up for a challenge is amazing but talking about why you are doing something and having to actively explain it to a friend or family member is reaffirming. Not only does it have the potential to impact other people and bring them into the challenge but it allows you to explore it more through conversation.

There are enough reusable cups in the world!

It was tempting not to be lured into the colourful selection of coffee cups that have flooded the market. But my family (like many others) has a scatty and odd selection of reusable cups in the cupboard. This July I have re-signed up for the challenge and will be re-living the learning from last year and hopefully discovering some new challenges with some new experiences July 2024 will throw at me.


Thanks for reading “5 Ways The Coffee Cup Challenge actually Challenged Me!”. I hope I have convinced a few to take the pledge for this year and support The 2 Minute Foundation in their mission to highlight the detrimental effects that plastics have on the environment. Please feel free to share and link this article – copywriting is prohibited.



Tailored Writing Profile - Kate Passmore

Cornish Explorer, outdoor writer and nature nerd. Based In Cornwall, Kate is an experienced lowland walking guide & qualified nature and health facilitator. She is passionate about educating people about the outdoors and protecting Cornwall’s natural spaces from litter in the sea and from the land.


The 2 Minute Foundation is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO number 1185614). Registered Office: c/o 2 St Helen’s Close, Croyde, Devon, EX33 1PW.

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