10,000 cups and counting

TV Chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall shows support for our MyCUP initiative, which has already saved over 10,000 paper cups since its September launch.

Since the beginning of September, students and staff have reused their own mugs 10,000 times – saving this many disposable cups from being thrown away.

This huge reduction in paper cup use on campus is thanks to the University’s new MyCUP initiative.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has shown his support for the University’s MyCUP initiative, saying:

“It’s fantastic to see that the University of Brighton are joining the War on Waste by tackling the issue of disposable coffee cups with their MyCUP initiative.  

An estimated 2.5bn coffee cups are binned a year in the UK and I’ve urged high street coffee chains to clean up their act. By putting a 10p charge on disposable cups, and rewarding customers for using reusable mugs at their outlets, the University of Brighton is setting a brilliant example.

Good luck to everyone at the University in reaching your target of wasting 125,000 fewer paper coffee cups in the first year – I look forward to hearing the results!”​

How does MyCUP work?

It is estimated that in the 2016-17 academic year, nearly one million single use paper cups were used on our campuses. Our goal with the MyCUP initiative is to reduce the number of disposable drinks cups we throw away by 125,000 a year.

You can benefit from using a reusable cup across University outlets, either by using your own, or buying a reusable eCoffee bamboo cup from any of our outlets.

The eCoffee mugs are on sale for £4.50, which includes your first drink for free and a MyCUP loyalty card. By using a reusable mug, you will avoid the 10p charge on disposable cups (a bit like the plastic bag charge in UK supermarkets).

You can find out more about MyCUP and other sustainable food initiatives on our Accommodation & Hospitality website.