Coffee Cup Lending System Again Again Has Launched in Auckland

Sure, keep cups are great, but how often do you actually remember to take it with you when leaving the house, or wash it? New Zealanders work their way through around 295 million cups of takeaway coffee a year.  That's a whole lot of single-use cups — both biodegradable and otherwise — being shipped off to the landfill.

Launched in our coffee-mad capital last year, Again Again is a cup lending system that eliminates single-use waste. The initiative has now landed in the home of the latté, Auckland.

Melissa Firth and Nada Piatek started Again Again with the objective of ending single-use waste and supporting guilt-free on-the-go coffee culture. The company's fleet of reusable cups are available for a $3 deposit with your coffee order. After you've inhaled the precious caffeine, the cups can then be returned to any participating cafe for a refund.

Auckland currently has just over 20 participating cafes, from Goodness Gracious to Odettes, Best Ugly Bagels and Auckland Zoo — which has estimated it will eliminate the use of 160,000 single-use compostable cups a year with the initiative.

The rules are simple: Again Again and the cafe is not selling you the cup or lid, cups must be returned within two weeks and cafes won't accept mouldy or mingin' cups. The Again Again cups are made with the highest grade stainless steel, the lids are silicone, and the compostable paper heat sleeves are compulsory to minimise the chance of coffee drinkers burning their hand.

Again Again's cup lending system is now available in Auckland. Visit againagain.co for more information and to find the closest participating cafe.