Bring Your Own Mug Café Audits
March - April 2013
Bring Your Own Mug (BYOM)
Spring 2013 Café Audits
Over the course of three separate days, TGIF Program Associates monitored four
different campus area cafes, for the purpose of recording the numbers of disposable to-go cups,
for-here cups, reusable mugs, and BYOM Klean Kanteens used to make beverage purchases
within hour-long periods. The purpose of this research was to assess the effectiveness of the
2012 TGIF grant Bring Your Own Mug and provide data that could be used to support
campaigns for adopting the sale of BYOM Kanteens in campus cafes.
The following are statements written by the Program Associates that describe their
observations and impressions from each café. These statements reflect the personal viewpoints
of each Program Associate and are not intended to offend any party, either consumer or café
owner. The detailed metrics are provided in tables at the end of the document.
CAFÉ:
OBSERVER:
Café Zeb [Boalt]
Erlin Sweeney (TGIF Program Associate)
“While observing coffee buyers at Café Zeb, I saw significantly more single-use to-go
cups than reusable cups. Sadly, for-here mugs were not even offered as an option. The
cups are labeled as compostable, yet the actual break down time of these cups is
questionable. There are compost bins throughout the café, but ideally, reusable mugs
should be used. Café Zeb would likely require more significant change than other cafes,
as I don’t think they even have for-here mugs. Because of this situation, I think selling
BYOM mugs here could be a great solution. I have used mine there before, and they
are happy to accommodate, but personal reusable mugs are uncommon. I believe they
offer a 10-cent discount when you use your own mug. If we have the power to increase
this discount, or better yet, charge for using throwaway cups, we could drastically
reduce the amount of coffee cup waste generated daily. I also think that BYOM could do
well at this location because many law students come here multiple times per day, and
saving money with every purchase would add up!”
Bring Your Own Mug Café Audits
March - April 2013
CAFÉ:
OBSERVER:
Yali’s Café [Stanley Hall]
Claire Kaufman (TGIF Program Associate)
“I audited Yali’s Cafe in Stanley Hall. Only one person brought a canteen each time I
audited. Even more disturbing is that the cashiers don’t ask customers “For-here or togo?” and just automatically assume to-go. I think we should talk to them about this little
tweak that could potentially reduce a lot of waste. Additionally, I think advertising the
idea that bringing your own canteen for hot drinks is important; just putting the idea in
people’s heads that they can bring their own mug will probably increase the number of
people bringing reusable canteens to cafes. Most students at Cal bring their own water
bottles, yet they don’t even think to bring mugs. I talked to one of the cashiers and she
said although Yali’s doesn’t give a discount for bringing your own canteen (though they
may with prodding), they do fill up the canteen entirely. If people were just aware of this
I think it could be really beneficial. I suggest creating signage at the café. Maybe at the
places where there is already a discount for Klean Kanteen we can write out the
differences in price. I’d also like to reach out to Milano and Strada because I feel that
students go there more than anywhere else.”
CAFÉ:
OBSERVER:
Free Speech Movement Café
Kareem Hammoud (TGIF Program Associate)
“While the hours that I monitored the sales at Free Speech Movement Cafe were
probably more suited to people buying lunch, there was still a significant amount of foot
traffic coming in for coffee. Like the other audited cafes, no BYOM canteens happened
to be spotted, but a few people did come by carrying their own thermoses or personal
mugs. FSM actually does have ‘for-here’ cups, which is interesting to note since I did
not even know they stocked these until I observed a couple people using them. FSM
employees do not explicitly state this while you’re ordering, however, and I believe they
would save a lot of waste if they simply asked the customer if they’d like a ‘for-here’ cup
rather than a ‘to-go’ one (this is what Cafe Milano employees do). Like Cafe Zeb, FSM’s
Bring Your Own Mug Café Audits
March - April 2013
cups claim to be compostable, but nothing beats a reusable cup or canteen in terms of
minimizing waste. FSM is usually quite crowded, so finding a place to sit down with your
coffee is nigh impossible during its popular times. This is probably a reason the
employees assume everyone wants a ‘to-go’ cup. Thus, BYOM canteens would be
great to sell here for the many faculty and students that stop by simply for a ‘to-go’
coffee. Sales have the potential to be effective for such a centralized and highly visited
location (they accept cash, Cal1 Card, or debit/credit). FSM also offers a 15-cent
reduction for using a reusable container, so upping this incentive could definitely
increase BYOM’s potential for success.”
CAFÉ:
OBSERVER:
Caffe Strada
Erlin Sweeney (TGIF Program Associate)
“I monitored Caffe Strada on April 9 from 11-12pm. At Caffe Strada, significantly more
for-here mugs were used than at any of the other cafes. Still, three times as many to-go
cups were sold and only one customer brought his own reusable mug. Strada has
created a culture that encourages the use of for-here mugs because their ample seating
and comfortable environment invite customers to sit and enjoy the drink while soaking
up the atmosphere. Every time someone ordered an iced drink, it was put in a to-go
container, even though one man said, ‘for-here.’ This was disappointing because iced
drinks can easily be made in glass cups, rather than plastic. Strada already sells Tshirts and ball caps, so I think they could easily sell BYOM mugs. The existing
merchandise is printed with the Strada label, so maybe we would be able to market the
mugs better if they had a Strada label on them. Many people could be more conscious
of the waste created daily by their mugs, and if they were educated, I think we could
inspire change.”
Bring Your Own Mug Café Audits
March - April 2013
DATA VISUALIZATION
Types of Cup Purchases Across Campus Cafes
Caffe Strada
FSM
Café Zeb
Yali's
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Disposable/To-Go Cups
For Here Mugs
Non-BYOM Canteens
BYOM canteens
Figure 1: Totaled cup purchases across the observation periods in each cafe. Each cafe was monitored for 1 hour
(11-12pm) on 2 different days (exception: Caffe Strada was only monitored 1 day for 1 hour). No BYOM canteens
were seen during the observation hours.
Bring Your Own Mug Café Audits
March - April 2013
RAW DATA
Method of
Consumption
Café
Tues, March 19, 11-12pm
Yali's
Cafe Zeb
For-Here Mugs
3
0
Disposable/To-go
Cups
60
54
BYOM canteens
0
0
1
5
64
59
Non-BYOM
Canteens
Total
Method of
Consumption
Thurs, April 4, 11-12pm
Café
Yali's
FSM
Cafe Zeb
For-Here Mugs
0
2
0
Disposable/To-go
Cups
47
43
54
BYOM canteens
0
0
0
Non-BYOM
Canteens
1
4
4
Total
48
49
58
Method of
Consumption
Tues, April 9, 11-12pm
Café
FSM
Cafe Strada
For-Here Mugs
2
21
Disposable/To-go
Cups
49
61
BYOM canteens
0
0
Non-BYOM
Canteens
3
1
Total
54
83