A major campaign is being rolled out in Dublin to highlight the serious issues disposable coffee cups pose to the environment.
Every year Irish people use in excess of 200 million disposable coffee cups with detrimental effects and contributing to a major source of on-street litter across the region.
The new campaign, ‘Don’t be Dick’, brings to the forefront how careless actions can have serious consequences on the environment, and asks consumers to think about their coffee drinking habits in a new way.
The campaign will run across radio, Dublin Bus, cinema, digital and social media from June 20th for three weeks.
It has been set into motion by Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council and Fingal County Council.
Fionnghuala Ryan, Executive Environmental Scientific Officer, Waste Management Services at Dublin City Council, said:
“A recent trial of segregated waste bins in Dublin City centre found that coffee cups contaminated all waste streams, so this presents a major litter problem for all local authorities.”
Speaking about the campaign, Edwina Dunford, Environmental Education Officer, Fingal County Council, said:
“The campaign does not encourage compostable cups, as composting is a very specific process which does not occur in landfill, where some of them end up as not all cafes have compost bins. Also, if they end up in a plastics recycling bin, they will contaminate the recycling process.”
