About Us

Inspiration

brummie cup was brought to life by Plastic Free Moseley and Kings Heath (PFMKH), a volunteer run environmental group set up in 2018 to raise awareness of plastic pollution and to help their local community reduce its reliance on single use plastic.

After watching world governments fail to take sufficient action to tackle the climate crisis at COP26, PFMKH wanted to increase their own impact. Inspired by the hugely successful Shrewsbury Cup, PFMKH decided to set up a Birmingham-based, reusable coffee cup scheme.

Disposable coffee cups are generally made of both card and plastic, making them very hard to recycle.  Over 7 million are used a day in the UK, with over 500,000 a day ending up as litter.  The hot drinks industry is not taking sufficient action to reduce disposable cup usage. Setting up a cup scheme that increases the use of reusable cups seemed like a natural fit with PFMKH’s objectives and so brummie cup was born.

Groundwork

In December 2021, PFMKH applied to LoveBrum for a grant to fund an initial batch of reusable cups.  The idea was that customers would pay a deposit to have their takeaway drink in one of the cups, receiving the deposit back on return of the cup.  PFMKH came top in a public vote winning first prize of £2,000.

A small brummie cup committee of three volunteers was formed: Ben, Shirley and Izzy. They spent the next six months planning how the reusable coffee cup scheme would work.  Shrewsbury Cup provided invaluable insight.  Conversations were held with local cafés. Local artist Arlene Adams volunteered her time to design the cup logo. 

Towards the end of the six months a batch of 14 fl oz cups were ordered. 

Launch

brummie cup launched in June 2022 at four participating cafés in south Birmingham: Maison Mayci, Cartlands Tea Rooms, Kitchen Garden Café  and The Shed in Cotteridge Park.  During an initial trial period of three months Maison Mayci sold 50% of their takeaway drinks in reusable cups.  This reinforced our belief that the scheme could be successful in Birmingham.

After the trial period, a monthly membership fee was introduced.  The fee is low, with the aim that participation in the scheme for a café is cost-neutral.  As brummie cup is not for profit, these funds will be used to cover small fixed costs, such as insurance and printing, as well as the future purchase of additional cups.

As of February 2023, brummie cup has seven participating venues across south Birmingham.  In addition, brummie cup is used by hot drink stalls at the monthly Moseley farmers market, and has been used at a conference away-day event.