Old glass jars have been turned into reusable coffee keep cups by the Te Ipukarea Society to reduce plastic waste. Caleb Fotheringham reports.

The initiative named, Kata Kapu, translated to happy cup, started over two months ago to support plastic-free July.

Glass jars are sterilised and wrapped in recycled wetsuit material by Te Ipukarea Society to be repurposed as free coffee keep cups. So far around 200 of the cups have been handed out.

Terena Koteka-Wiki from the society said the free usable cup is about breaking the habit of buying new things.

“It’s important to reuse what you already have instead of constantly buying and buying,” Koteka-Wiki said.

“If you do go out and keep buying new things it ends up in our landfill, and waste is really the biggest issue on this island, so we’re trying to encourage people to make positive behavioural changes.

Terena Koteka-Wiki from the Te Ipukarea Society holds two Kata Kapu reusable cups, translated to mean happy cup - 21090712

“It takes time, it’s not easy, it’s just something you’ve got to get in the habit of doing.”

The Kata Kapu cup can either be reused or washed and returned to Te Ipukarea Society or  cafés that are taking part in the promotion.

Koteka-Wiki said it meant if people forgot to bring their keep cup to a cafe they can just grab a Kata Kapu cup instead of buying a takeaway cup.

“The whole message is just change your habit,” she said.

Ake Patia-Gempton from coffee shop, Reefside Rarotonga said more people are using keep cups every day.

“It’s been really good, everyone now knows that we are using the Kata Kapu cups, saving the environment is the best thing.”

Cafe’s Reefside and The Café both offer 50 cents off takeaway coffees purchased with reusable cups.

Clare Wheeldon owner of The Café, said the more people that use the cups the better.

Wheeldon said she asked most people to use a keep cup for takeaway coffee unless they really insist on a takeaway one.

“It’s cheaper for them to do it as well so why wouldn’t you.”

She said even though the takeaway cups used by the cafe are eco ones, they’re still not good for the environment.

“There’s a lot of coffee drinkers on the island and the less waste we can produce the better.”

Co-owner Ian Wheeldon said some people view the landfill as out of sight and out of mind, “but it’s a big problem and it’s not getting any better”.