Petaluma implements reusable cup use at restaurants and cafes – Telemundo Bay Area 48

The City of Petaluma is implementing the first reusable cup program in the entire country.

The plastic cups are labeled with the English words “sip, return, repeat”, which in Spanish means “sip, return, repeat the process”.

“Starting with something that’s used a lot, a lot of people drink coffee every day, so we know a lot of cups are used every day,” explained Patrick Carter, Petaluma’s assistant mayor.

But consider this: the coffee cups at Starbucks are only used for about 30 minutes and then thrown away.

The goal with this pilot program is to keep cups and materials in circulation longer and reduce waste.

You can order these cups from dozens of restaurants and cafes in downtown Petaluma, and when you’re done with them, you can drop them off at bins located throughout the city to be sanitized.

Last week, we asked the people responsible for this project again about the environmental impact this has had over the past two months, and they reported that:

“The project reached 100,000 cup returns as of the week of September 16, just six weeks after the project officially launched. The Nextgen consortium will continue to monitor yields and impact in the coming weeks. The consortium is also collecting sales data from the 30 participating companies and plans to share information publicly. The results after three months will inform the next rounds of expansion and what future reuse programs look like in Petaluma and beyond.”

Residents applaud the initiative and assured that Sonoma County is progressive.

Once Petaluma’s results are in, more local cities will follow suit.

After this testing phase that ends in November, the data will be analyzed and the same model could be applied in cities across the country, not only with glasses, but also with different items used every day.