The eastside cities of Bellevue, Bothell, Kirkland, and Redmond are partnering with local coffee shops to reduce single-use coffee cup waste by encouraging the community to bring their own reusable cups. Over their lifecycle, reusable cups have lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to disposable alternatives. They also lower the amount of materials that go to landfills, which have finite space, and most single-use cups are not recyclable or compostable. Generating fewer single-use cups decreases the chances of litter ending up in streets, storm drains, rivers, and lakes.
This is the second summer the four-city partnership is running a “Bring Your Own Cup” (BYOC) campaign with coffee shop partners alongside a digital marketing campaign funded by King County’s Re+ grant. The campaign launched in June, and it has been a great success so far, with 34 and counting participating coffee shop locations!
“Our goal is to reduce waste from single-use cups by asking community members to bring their own cups when going to their favorite coffee shops,” said Al Fann, City of Bothell’s Sustainability Assistant.
As an incentive for engaging with the habit of BYOC throughout the summer, there will be weekly drawings for tickets to local events and attractions such as a Marymoor Live concert, Mariners games, the Summit at Snoqualmie, and more. To enter, community members are asked to take a “cup selfie” and tag @eastsidebyoc on Instagram or Facebook. Alternatively, there is an option to enter by scanning a QR code sign available at participating coffee shops, alongside free, limited-edition stickers designed by local artists Tony DeBoom, Jordan Kay, and Carmel Mercado to personalize one’s own cup. At the end of the summer, every entry will be entered into a grand prize drawing for a new e-bike from Propella!
Learn more about why reuse is a great habit to get into this summer and find a list of participating BYOC coffee shops at eastsidebyoc.com.
For questions, please contact the Eastside BYOC program manager at sustainability@bothellwa.gov.