The Conscious Cup team have been very busy spreading their wings across the country now with 800 cafe’s and businesses on board.

County Wicklow are currently in the lead now with every cafe in Delganyoffering a discount to customers with a reusable cup. Bray are also doing incredible work with 11 cafe’s under its belt thanks to Tidy Towns and local businesses. But it’s not just cafe’s and businesses that have caught on, schools and universities are making great waves too.

Second year students at North Wicklow Educate Together Secondary School have set up a new website which focuses on Sustainable Development Goal 14 ‘Life Under Water’. The website is a fantastic resource which aims to help other schools to protect marine life by taking action to reduce waste. Newpark Comprehensive are on a mission to become the first school to ban single use plastics, including disposable cups and tableware.

DCU have announced they are going plastic free which will include the removal of all disposable cups from campus by 2020. University of Limerick have announced plans to introduce a ban on takeaway cups on campus with a BYOC (bring your own cup) system. In addition, the campus has recently installed water filling stations in an effort to cut down on plastic bottles.

There have been a lot of enquiries from schools, universities, community groups and corporates looking to get involved, it won’t be long until every business and institution has the Conscious Cup Campaign sticker in its window sending a clear message that Ireland is embracing reuse!

Accenture are the latest group to join the Conscious Cup Campaign, they are on a mission to empower their community to make a difference through their corporate citizenship #WarOnWaste campaign. Accenture employees have been given their own KeepCup which they can use to avail of a 20c discount in Accenture’s in-house cafes across three office locations in Dublin.

Accenture will also host a series of VOICE Recycling Workshops for their employees. We’re delighted to see companies of all shapes and sizes join the move away from single use on-the-go waste and promoting reuse and recycling.

Inspired by Accenture? Why not get your workplace on board with the Conscious Cup Campaign and host a Recycling Workshop for your colleagues.

Earlier this month, The Conscious Cup were nominated for Sustainability Team of the Year for this year’s Green Awards, Sorcha Kavanagh and Declan Breen represented the team on the night.

Check out the Conscious Cup Campaign map to see if your local cafe has come on board!