Uni-owned cafés were rocked by a surprise email on the 7th of May, being served with the ice-cold news that iced drinks could no longer be served in biodegradable plastic takeaway cups. In a huge loss for people who actually go to class, students will no longer be able to carry around their drinks as easily (wahhhhhhhhhh).
The University has been disposable cup free since January 2020, but cold drinks were still served in biodegradable plastic cups up until now. Campus and Collegiate Life Services Director James Lindsay (we get it – you're important) told Critic Te Ārohi that the market for takeaway cold drinks “was initially quite small but has continued to grow.” This policy proved controversial, with both Critic Te Ārohi and the ODT reporting on bubble-tea shop ChaTime’s struggles in operating its Link location around the Uni’s strategic sustainability goals. Two days after this article dropped, what Critic is dubbing ‘The Great Cup Snatch’ took place.
All campus cafés are run by the University Union: Auahi Ora, Café Albany, Marsh Study Centre, St David Café, Te Mātiti and Staff Club. The University's policy requires all food and beverage vendors on central campus to be aligned with the Sustainability Strategic framework. Food trucks are not exempt, with Ray O’Brien, Sustainability Office Head, explaining that the cup-library concept is not a change, but rather a “continued application of the policy, reminding people how we operate.”
The day of The Great Cup Snatch was a 22 degrees Dunner Stunner. Jorts and Birks were rocked for the first time in weeks. It was prime weather to guzzle down an iced drink beside the Leith instead of doing assignments. But for campus-café staff, it was a long, hot day of disappointing customers. Maia*, a staff member at one of these cafés, said that the email had “ruined” her day. “I was fuming.” At Maia’s café, only regulars were trusted to take away the ‘have-here’ glasses, meaning if you forgot your keep cup, there was a chance your iced latte could be served in a mug (now that’s just negative aura).
On the first day of the policy change, Maia reckoned that her café lost around 80% of its takeaway cold drink customers. At each subsequent shift, Maia had noted around ten customers leaving without a coffee after being informed of the new policy. When asked about the alleged drop in sales, James Lindsay told Critic that it was “too early to say, but the initiative has proved popular with customers.” Since Maia started the job, she’s never had anyone complain about the plastic cups. “But I've had people complain about having to use the library mugs all the time.”
University-owned cafés have run a mug library since 2020. If you forgot your Frank Green, you could take your hot coffee in a mug to go, then return it to any of the campus cafés once it’s finished. Fortunately, mugs haven’t seemed to be as hot of a commodity as U-Bar’s pint glasses. Otago Open Day is a rare occasion when University cafés could sell hot drinks in paper takeaway cups – mainly because visitors can’t be trusted (or remember where) to return any of the library mugs.
In preparation for Open Day, Critic received reports that the University ordered an excess amount of plastic takeaway cups for cold drinks (and it was due to be a Dunner Stunner). If they had too many cups, cafés would be sure to sell them anyway – BSNS113 approved logic. Since the University's decision to stop serving plastic takeaway cups was made only two days after Open Day, stacks of these cups are now left collecting dust in café storerooms. Maia estimated that roughly 500 cups are sitting across those storerooms.
When asked about where the cups vanished to, James told Critic that the Open Day cups “will be held in storage until next year”. Isla*, another tattletale University café employee, wishes that the University had sold out its stock before discontinuing the sale of plastic biodegradable cups. She described the whole ordeal as “completely rushed and completely unreasonable.” Criticising the University for greenwashing, Isla said, “The Uni could be so much more sustainable, but instead cafés and students are now paying the price […] God forbid a student wants to take an iced coffee into their lecture.”
In the University's defence, both staff members acknowledge that customers don’t always throw cups in the correct bin – they do have their issues, given that unwashed plastic cups can’t be recycled.
With time, the cafés seem to be adjusting to the change. Customers at Auahi Ora can now purchase a clear plastic reusable cup for $10, with a coffee included. A cheeky discount can be snagged when ordering with the reusable cup in the future. Although this initiative hasn’t been introduced at all of the campus cafés yet, Isla supports this idea. However, she wishes that the "cafés across the Uni could communicate," so there can be some cold drink consistency across campus.
*Names changed.