Change The World One Coffee At A Time
When Martin Brooks left the police force and spent nine months on a boat sailing up and down the East Coast of Australia with his family, he didn’t expect it to lead to a business idea that would end up becoming his new full-time job.
“We were exploring these remote islands up in Queensland so far away from everything but finding so many plastic items in the water and washing up on beaches,” Martin explains.
“It got me thinking about single use plastics and the impact on the environment.”
Martin’s sister, Kate came up with the idea of swap and go reusable cups.
Martin teamed up with good friend, Damien who was taking a hiatus form his work in real estate and the two of them started Green Caffeen, a swap and go reusable cup service for cafes and coffee lovers.
“Both Damien and I had some mental health challenges which is why we were both not working,” Martin says.
“Kate handed us this idea in the hope it would give us some purpose and get us back into the workforce.”
Well, it certainly did that!
And now it’s coming to the Southern Highlands so we can get on board too!
There will be a special launch event at Rush Roasting Co Café in Moss Vale on Friday 1 April AND [we love this] anyone who signs up to Green Caffeen app on Friday at any of the 19 participating cafes in the Highlands – scroll down for the list – gets a free coffee. Boom!
We spoke to Martin and Chief Project Officer, Sarah about the Green Caffeen journey.
1 :: Tell us about the concept. How does it actually work?
Think of it like borrowing a book from a library, except you’re borrowing a reusable cup from a cafe.
The first thing you do it sign up to the Green Caffeen app. Then when you order a coffee at a participating café, you simply scan it out and then scan it back in again when you return it the next day [or earlier if you’re like us and drink quite a few coffees a day!].
You don’t have to wash it, the café does that for you.
2 :: How did it start for you guys then?
We literally bought 100 reusable coffee cups and took them down to two of our local cafes in Kiama and they’d all gone within 48 hours, so we knew we were onto something.
3 :: And now there’s nearly 800 cafes signed up across Australia!
That’s right. There’s cafes in every state and territory and something that’s really exciting is there are a lot of universities getting on board. We launched a few weeks ago at Monash and the University of Melbourne and also Sydney University.
4 :: Whose signed up in the Highlands?
List updated 19 July 2022!
MOSS VALE
- Rush Roasting Co
- The Vale Cafe
- The What If Society
- Highlands Merchant
BOWRAL
- Rush Roasting Co
- 4 Brothers Cafe
- The Hospital Shop Cafe
- Raw & Wild
- Elephant Boy Cafe
- Sonoma Bakery
- Bare Bites Bowls & Brews
- Janeks Cafe
- Coffee Culture
MITTAGONG
- Sturt Gallery
- The Underground
- The Shaggy Cow
- Coffee Culture
BUNDANOON
- Potters Pantry
WINGELLO
- Wingello Village Store
EXETER
- Exeter General Store
And plenty more who have expressed interest that we’re expecting to sign up in the coming weeks.
Don’t forget that anyone who signs up to the Green Caffeen app on Friday at any of these cafes will get a FREE COFFEE.
5 :: Yay! One of those cafes is right underneath our office.
Handy.
6 :: So, what’s been the biggest challenge for you guys?
Changing people’s behaviour.
When we first started, we did plenty of research and discovered that between 2-5% of people have a reusable cup [or multiple cups!] but they’re sitting in cupboards and cars.
People have great intentions, but life gets in the way, so by creating this simple swap and go system, we’re hoping to remove the excuses around that.
7 :: And what’s been the best thing about starting Green Caffeen?
Changing people’s behaviour!
When somebody signs up to the app, you can actually see the behaviour change as they scan the reusable cups in and out of whichever cafes they’re going to.
It’s VERY cool to see that.
Sounds great, right?
We’d love to see Southern Highlands cafes and Highlanders sign up.
Join us at the launch on Friday 1 April [remember, you can get free coffee!!!] or sign up to the Green Caffeen app here.
Get on board and let’s save the planet one coffee at a time!
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