Kelowna shop serves coffee to-go but ditches paper cups

Billions of paper cups litter streets around the world every year. In an attempt to make an impact in their corner of the world, One Big Table is scrapping paper cups and instead providing a waste-free 'to go' coffee service.

This doesn't mean 'to-go' coffee is no longer available. On the contrary, customers can still expect a hot cup of coffee at the Kelowna-based grocery shop—only it will be served in a ceramic, reusable mug that you can take home and return to the shop at your next opportunity.

"We had read about a few different cafes that were no longer offering disposable coffee cups and were giving their customers reclaimed mugs instead," said Sarah Coffeey of Unless Market and Waste Conscious Living.

To kick off the new initiative, One Big Table is partnering with Waste Conscious Living—a non-profit that promotes a waste-conscious lifestyle—to run the Hug A Mug Drive.

The mug campaign aims to collect enough mugs through donations, in order to provide the waste-free 'to-go' service.

That's where the customers come in: It's time to rescue that lone mug tucked away in the dark corner of your cupboard and give it a sense of purpose.

Mugs can be dropped off at either One Big Table (1440 St. Paul) or Unless Market (438 Lawrence Ave.).

Guilio Piccioli of One Big Table says he's excited to partner with Waste-Conscious Living work alongside the other organizations with a goal to create greener spaces and spark meaningful conversations with members of the community.

"As a new and ethically driven business, we are excited for the opportunity to spearhead this project alongside these solid community partners," said Piccioli.

The Hug A Mug Drive runs from March 24 to April 14.

The new waste-free, to-go coffee service will kick off at One Big Table on April 21 as an early celebration for Earth Day.

If you're dropping mugs off at either location, be sure they're chip free, and of course, clean.