Customers urged to bring and donate their own mugs to coffeeshops to cut down on waste
Words and video report by ITV Channel's Will Tullis
Tea and coffee drinkers are being encouraged to bring and donate their old mugs from home to cut down on the use of disposable cups.
The Reuse Mugs scheme was launched by Jersey environmentalist Kalina Le Marquand this week. Four Jersey cafes are already taking part.
Customers have been asked to bring mugs in from home that they can donate to cafes. Hot beverage drinkers buying their drinks can then request the drink to be from a donated mug. They are free to take this mug with them and are encouraged - but not obliged - to bring it back.
In the UK, 2.5 billion disposable cups are used every year, and only one in every 400 of those cups is recycled.
For Kalina Le Marquand, this scheme is vital: "We're all responsible for the environment and every single cup makes a difference.
"If you take a cup... next time you go for a cup of tea [at a café] you'll think 'oh there's the reuse mug, I'll take it back and get it refilled'.
"We've only got one planet and this can play a part in helping protect it", said Kalina who also has a plant pot recycling scheme on the island.
"We're all responsible for the environment and every single cup makes a difference": said Kalina Le Marquand.
One Jersey café, The Lounge, said it had six mug donations on the first day of the scheme - that includes one donated by ITV News. Seven people had taken reuse mugs out from the shop too.
Kevin Alway who runs The Lounge - which is part of Macmillan Jersey - told ITV News he was delighted to take part in the scheme.
"Not only does it help cut down on waste, but anybody can pop in, use one of the cups, take it away with them, bring one in that they want", Mr Alway said.
"It almost reminds me of having your glass at a pub, it makes it feel more homely. Someone can come in and feel more at home in our environment, which is always good", he added.
Recycling and reusing is, perhaps, more important now than ever before. It is hoped that tea and coffee drinkers can play their part, one cup at a time.