Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­

Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Green beans: Vancouverites most likely to bring their own cups to coffee shops

"What would you like your coffee in?"
reusable-mug
Photo: reusable mug / Shutterstock

Wondering what to get your Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­pals for the holidays?

If they like coffee or tea, an eco-friendly cup might be the perfect gift. 

According to a new payment company called Square, the question isn't only, "how do you take your coffee?" anymore. Instead, its data reveals that there has been a whopping 62% increase in coffee shops serving coffee in their customers’ own cups this year across Canada.

In other words, the new question is, "what would you like your coffee in?" What's more, the data shows that Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­has the highest percentage of these bring your own coffee cup sippers nationwide - over 7% of orders at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­coffee shops are served in customers’ own cups. As such, it is likely that you know someone who's already packing a reusable cup. Or, if they aren't yet, they may be reusable cup-curious and a "bring-your-own" version would be an ideal present. 

Square also found that coffee drinkers tend to be at their most eco-friendly midweek. In other words, you're more likely to spot a eco-friendly cup on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday than you will on the weekend. 

The report notes that the country's interest in sustainability extends into every industry, with Canadians becoming increasingly conscious of their carbon footprint.  As such, locals are tyring to change up the disposable life they have grown accustomed to. With cafes and restaurants across Canada becoming zero-waste, it’s likely the percentage of customers bringing their own coffee cups continue to increase in the new year.

The data is based off millions of anonymized transactions from hundreds of coffee shops running their business with Square across Canada. The data set includes transactions from January 2015 through November 2019.