The second annual Coffee Cup Revolution organized by Tides Canada’s Binners’ Project brought attention to the significant amount of coffee cup waste in Vancouver and highlighted the capacity of the city’s binners as recyclers. During last week’s event, held at Victory Square, binners were refunded five cents for each coffee cup brought in, up to a maximum of $20. This is often an average day’s pay for collecting redeemable containers from garbage and recycling bins in the Lower Mainland.
More than 130 binners participated in the Coffee Cup Revolution this year, with many lining up an hour before the event. During the course of four hours, a total of 31,310 coffee cups were redeemed.
This year’s event also featured two roundtables that discussed new ways of addressing coffee cup waste and increasing recognition of informal work like binning. Participants included a binner from the Binners’ Project and subject matter experts from a range of organizations including Metro Vancouver, the City of Vancouver, CityStudio, Regional Recycling, the David Suzuki Foundation, UBC Law, SFU’s Office of Community Engagement, and the Downtown Eastside Street Market.
“It was really insightful to have a binner from the neighbourhood speaking about his job, and to have binners volunteering to help redeem coffee cups,” said Project Director Anna Godefroy. “The binners have really been at the heart of the event today.”
The Binners’ Project hopes that the Coffee Cup Revolution will help continue the dialogue on the need for coffee cup recycling and reduce the stigma binners face as informal recyclable collectors.
The Binners’ Project is a project on Tides Canada’s shared platform, which powers nearly 40 leading social change initiatives across Canada.
