KEEP cup hype has added an extra element to Ballarat Eureka Strikers’ season campaign.
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The city’s marquee women’s soccer team has declared its own war on waste, targeting canteen culture for all home games at Morshead Park.
Hot drinks are discounted for reusable cups and supporters are encouraged to bring their own containers for other canteen items too, like dim sims.
Strikers vice-president and canteen manager Emily Roffe-Silvester said the club had quickly identified a need for environmental changes, largely sparked by huge interest in the ABC’s War on Waste documentary mini-series this month.
Ms Roffe-Silvester said the club was determined to make changes stick for the long term. But it would take time.
Morshead Park does not have any recycling bins so the club has designated two of its own for spectators and one in the canteen.
Ms Roffe-Silvester said supporters from both sides were embracing the reusable cup and container concept, but recycling other waste had created some confusion.
“Unfortunately, it is taking slightly longer than expected for spectators, especially those from the away teams, to use the recycling bins available. Most of that comes down to spectator culture rather than laziness,” Ms Roffe-Silvester said.
“Most amateur sports facilities don’t offer recycling options and therefore spectator are just used to throwing it in the bin. They don’t think to look for an alternative option.”
Recycling contamination has also been a problem but the club was keen to persist and keep raising awareness.
Persistence is the key, according to a study on academic and research news source theconversation.com, which found the issue with cup was not just in disposal, but in creation as well.
The study deemed plastic reusable cups need to be washed 17 times to be more sustainable than paper disposable cup and 450 times compared to a styrofoam one.
When it came to ceramics, one cup would need to be used at least 39 times to be a better option than paper disposable cups and 1006 times compared to styrofoam.
Takeaway coffee cups are lined on the inside with a plastic film, making them notoriously difficult to recycle. Compostable cups need the right infrastructure to break them down.
Strikers’ president, Astrid Antrobus said the club was built on principles of sustainability and planning for the future, so the club should approach waste management in the same fashion.
Other initiatives include: players bringing their own reusable drink bottles; and, shopping for supplies with reusable bags and in bulk.
Change will take time, says Clean Up chief
CLEAN Up Australia chief Terri-Ann Johnson says it will take time to notice any significant shift community waste but little, individual changes still made a big difference.
Ms Johnson said the nationwide fervour in a war on waste, sparked by the documentary mini-series of the same name, had opened a lot of people’s eyes to a big issue but it was important to keep up newly-adopted waste-elimination methods.
“I don’t think individuals realised how much our waste all adds up to," Ms Johnson told The Courier. “We wouldn’t expect any notable changes next Clean Up (in March), it will take a lot longer. Bans on plastic bags will create a reduction but that all generally takes about 12 months to show.
“At the least, it will slow up the stream of what is going out there.”
Victoria has neither a plastic bag ban nor a cash-for-can program but Ms Johnson said every Victorian had a voice to let their MPs know they supported both.
There has been lots of hype about adopting resuable cups for a morning coffee fix, instead of using takeaway cups, which are notoriously hard to recycle.
More than 3 billion takeaway cups and lids are wasted in Australia each year but conscious consumption advocate Responsible Cafes’s website, has boomed with more than 2000 cafes across the nation registering as offering a discount on hot drinks in reusable cups.
Fourteen cafes have registered from Ballarat but most cafes in town will accept reusable cups.
Ban Plastic Bag Ballarat’s Sandra Hawkins also suggested buying in bulk at stores like Go Vita and wholefoods collectives in Ballarat and Hepburn, or buying from grocers offering loose items to cut back unnecessary packaging.