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Portlanders who frequent Nossa Familia Coffee—a Portland-based roastery with three local cafes and one in Los Angeles—should dust off their thermoses.
The local chain announced today that it will be the first Portland coffee shop to add a 25-cent extra charge to orders served in disposable to-go cups. The extra fee will be implemented starting Earth Day, April 22.
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Karen Lickteig, the company's marketing and sustainability director, says the charge is an effort to reduce waste.
"Every year, 50 million cups are thrown away in Portland alone," Lickteig says. "The charge on cups is about sending a message that this item is wasteful."
The company also plans to start building free cup libraries at its cafes, where customers can donate mugs for people to use when they forget a reusable cup. People who bring in their own mugs will be given a 25 cent discount.
Augusto Carneiro, Nossa's founder, says he was nervous that instating the charge would turn customers away but "knew it was the right thing to do."
"Our goal isn't to shame people or make them feel bad about paying the charge," Carneiro says in a statement. "The real goal here is to help people think more consciously about their decisions, and offer a little nudge to help them make a better one for the planet and our community by using a reusable cup over one that becomes trash."
