Money Hack: How to save on your coffee with a BYO cup
Look after the planet and your bank balance when you bring your own coffee cup to a Responsible Cafes venue.
As more people becoming aware of the “war on waste”, all kinds of initiatives are springing up to help us reduce, reuse and recycle. In the lead up to World Environment Day next Tuesday, 5 June, we thought we’d look at an easy hack that can make a big difference: swapping takeaway coffee cups for a reusable one.
As well as helping cut down on the billions of takeaway cups and lids that end up in a landfill each year, bringing your own cup could give you a discount on your caffeine fix thanks to Responsible Cafes.
The hack
Responsible Cafes is an initiative that helps coffee drinkers find environmentally responsible cafes that offer discounts for BYO cups. All you have to do is visit the Café Map on the Responsible Cafes website and allow location access or enter your address in the search box.
The map will then show you the participating cafes nearby as well as a list with contact details and any known details of the discounts on offer.
As far as actual savings go, it’s up to the individual café. A search around Sydney CBD shows many places offer discounts of around 20 to 50 cents, although some offer $1 or more and others offer a percentage (ie, 10%) off your drink order.
It also depends on how often you buy coffee. Say you typically get two coffees each day while you’re at work. If you found a Responsible Cafes venue that offered 50 cents off for BYO coffee cup orders, you’d save $1 a day and $5 a week. Over a year, that could add up to $250 in savings.
The Responsible Cafes map covers locations all around Australia. The website also has resources if you want to get your local café involved, or if you’re a café owner that wants to sign up.
If you don’t already have a reusable cup, you can buy them at major stores including David Jones, Myer and Amazon Australia. You can also buy directly from popular brands such as KeepCup, JOCO and even ENJO. Plus, even if you spend a lot on your BYO cup, the chances are good you’ll more than make up for it through discounts.
finder money hacks is a bi-weekly round-up of the latest tips and tricks to improve your finances. Check back every Wednesday and Saturday for new hacks.
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