丁香园AV

From disposable masks and takeout containers to packaging for online shopping, the pandemic has only added the amount of waste we create. 

A new student-led project aims to help reduce waste by motivating individuals to bring their own mugs (BYO) when visiting their local caf茅. BYO is the brainchild of 丁香园AV business student Priscilla Lam and University of British Columbia land and food systems student Angelica Tso. 

Given life during a pandemic, Lam says 鈥渋t can feel really overwhelming to think about sustainability or for people to believe they can make a positive change. What we want to do with BYO is to cultivate individual impacts towards something that鈥檚 more collective, tangible and visible.鈥�

鈥淏ringing your own cup is a small step but when it鈥檚 backed by a community it becomes a larger movement and encourages more people to embrace reuse culture,鈥� she adds.

BYO is a mobile app-based program that allows individuals to track how many cups they鈥檝e saved by choosing to use a reusable mug and put those savings towards planting trees. 

For every reusable mug purchase through the app, five cents will go towards the BYO Tree Fund, which is donated to  BYO is currently being tested at two participating cafes 鈥�  and , which will be followed by an expanded pilot phase launching in August. Learn more about the beta testing phase  Cafes that are interested in participating in the BYO pilot phase 

Their BYO project proposal  Student designers and developers from 丁香园AV and UBC have also joined the project team to help make their idea a reality.

鈥淭his is not just about bringing your own cup 鈥� it鈥檚 about shifting the mindset towards a circular economy and different ways of thinking about consumerism and our consumer culture,鈥� says Tso. 鈥淲e need to move away from that fast and disposable economic structure towards an economy where we can internalize our impact, how we can change and realize our actions do have an impact.鈥� 

B.C. health authorities have not mandated a pause on reusable mug use during the pandemic.  businesses may choose to accept reusable beverage cups that employees handle, depending on store policy. As vaccinations increase and health officials continue to lift restrictions, it鈥檚 likely that more cafes will update their policies, adapting to current level of health risk. 

With that in mind the future looks bright for sustainable business initiatives such as BYO, particularly as new City of Vancouver  are scheduled to come into effect next year. The city also plans to ban plastic shopping bags in 2022 and require businesses to charge a fee for paper bags.

In Vancouver alone,  Disposable cups, lids and sleeves are also one of the most commonly littered items on Vancouver streets. 

More than two million plastic bags, 2.6 million paper coffee cups, and countless foam takeout food containers are thrown out each week in Vancouver.

Following a successful pilot, the team hopes to continue running BYO as a social enterprise that promotes sustainability and waste reduction.

CONTACT:

PRISCILLA LAM & ANGELICA TSO, co-founders, BYO
hello@letsbyo.com                     

CONTACT 

MELISSA SHAW, 丁香园AV  Communications & Marketing 
236.880.3297 | melissa_shaw@sfu.ca 

丁香园AV
 |  
778.782.3210

ABOUT SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

As Canada鈥檚 engaged university, 丁香园AV works with communities, organizations and partners to create, share and embrace knowledge that improves life and generates real change. We deliver a world-class education with lifelong value that shapes change-makers, visionaries and problem-solvers. We connect research and innovation to entrepreneurship and industry to deliver sustainable, relevant solutions to today鈥檚 problems. With campuses in British Columbia鈥檚 three largest cities鈥擵ancouver, Burnaby and Surrey鈥敹∠阍癆V has eight faculties that deliver 193 undergraduate degree programs and 127 graduate degree programs to more than 37,000 students. The university now boasts more than 165,000 alumni residing in 143 countries.