Our Better Journey | HuskeeSwap

Eight months ago, we launched our HuskeeSwap system at our Cellar Door. Implemented mainly for our regulars who were drinking takeaway coffees each day in single-use cups, we purchased a fleet of HuskeeCups from our mates at Decent Packaging, and Sho and Sakiko set to work getting familiar faces signed up.

We’re proud to share that so far we’ve swapped 721 single-use takeaway cups for HuskeeCup refills, plus another 723 reusable cups outside of the HuskeeSwap system since we started recording eight months ago.

That’s 1444 reusable refills in total; equal to more than a whole box of takeaway cups, which is over 11kg of waste diverted from landfill. Those numbers show that we've also doubled the amount of reusable cups we're pouring into since starting the HuskeeSwap system.

HuskeeCups are made from coffee husk, a by-product of coffee production separated from the green bean during milling. Every cup reused avoids single-use waste and supports this creative repurposing of farm by-product. And once a HuskeeCup reaches end of life, Huskee’s take-back program turns it into new products.

We’ve kept the HuskeeSwap system as simple as possible; 

• Pay a deposit on a cup (just enough to cover our cost)
• Take your first coffee away in it for free
• Bring it back clean or dirty, we swap it for a clean cup anyway; take 30c off every refill
• We provide a refund on the deposit if you decide to opt out (nobody has yet!)
  

By keeping things easy and affordable, we’re stoked to be introducing a whole new set of customers to reusables without them needing to buy their own cup upfront.

While we’ve been proudly using Decent Packaging PLA compostable cups for many years, the reality is there’s currently no facility in Canterbury able to compost them (we’ve tried, to no avail!). They’re still far better than traditional takeaway cups, but reusables remain the best solution where it’s possible to use one. Our next move will be switching to Aqueous lined home compostable cups also from Decent, made from all natural materials with zero PLA and PE, so we can provide a collection and composting option.

Thanks so much to all of our regulars who have joined the HuskeeSwap system so far, and to those who bring in their own cups too. The first eight months have already proved to be making an impact; this is one piece of our bigger sustainability journey, and with every refill we’re proving that small changes add up to a big difference. 

If you’re keen to join the initiative, stop by Cellar Door and chat to the team about getting started. We’d also love to hear from any other cafés interested in running their own HuskeeSwap system. Right now we’re the only spot in Christchurch offering it, and it’d be awesome to see more HuskeeCups lined up on coffee machines across the city - we’re keen to help make it happen! Flick us an email if you want to chat! And this is not a sponsored post - we're just stoked on this initiative.

(Speaking of Decent Packaging, we were recently featured in their “A Conversation With…” journal series. Head over to their blog here if you’d like some further reading!)