Ash Sinclair
Plastic Free Noosa Youth Ambassador
In this series we will be hearing all about what our Plastic Free Noosa Champions are doing to not only meet the member criteria, but how they are going above and beyond to reduce their environmental footprint, and create a positive impact in the community that inspires others to do the same.
Our first champion spotlight is Sunshine Social. This cafe and roastery is well loved by locals for not only incredible coffee, but outstanding community involvement and an authentic, positive atmosphere. Even better, owner Ben Clark and his team are taking incredible steps to reduce impacts on the environment. It is clear through the entire journey of the coffee beans to everything behind the scenes at Sunshine Social, that people and the planet come first.
Many initiatives prove the prioritisation of sustainability at Sunshine Social including partnering with Simply Cups and Pottery for the Planet to tackle the widespread issue of single-use coffee cups.
Simply Cups is an incredible company that is able to recycle single-use paper cups into sustainable upcycled products. With a convenient cup collection station at the cafe, in the last year this program has diverted 7000 takeaway coffee cups from landfill, averaging 650 per month! The Simply Cups unit is regularly collected to be processed at the partner facilities, to be upcycled into anything from garden beds and building materials, to reusable coffee cups and drink trays! This initiative truly embodies the power of a circular economy, and the potential for other local businesses and organisations to engage in programs such as this. Additionally, monitoring and recording the amount of cups saved from landfill is a great tool to measure the impacts and milestones, and to celebrate the great work businesses and customers are doing to reduce waste. Australia wide, a massive 45 million cups have been saved from landfill since the inception of the program.
The cafe also boasts a unique and extremely popular mug library, to provide a convenient (and beautiful) alternative for the single-use coffee cups. This is created in partnership with Pottery for the Planet, who supplies cups for the program. The mug library program is not only about reducing the number of single-use cups being used, but creating education, raising awareness, and encouraging behaviour change in our community.
Sunshine Social partners with coffee importers to empower smallholder farmers, source ethical coffee, and aims to ‘improve socioeconomic livelihoods’. Roasted locally, this coffee is of extremely high quality and ensures that all steps in the supply chain are ethical and sustainable.
The impact of the coffee is considered even to its final stage, as the coffee grinds are donated to local gardens including the Cooroy Permaculture gardens. What often goes to landfill, proves a great resource for the gardens and puts it back into the community, furthering connections and collaborations between individuals and businesses. Through these efforts, 10 tons of coffee grinds have been diverted from landfill in the last 12 months.
But before you even get to that delicious cup of (sustainable and ethical) coffee (in your keep cup of course) you are greeted by the bright and beautiful colours of the talented artist Em Niwas’ mural. What has become an iconic characteristic of not only this cafe but of Sunshine Beach, is a grand example of how important community engagement is in the plastic free journey.
Whether it is collaborating with local artists such as for the mural, barista training, involvements in beach clean ups, or promoting youth-run businesses such as ocean ears, it is clear that this business is more than just your local coffee shop. We invite you to join us on the plastic free movement and support Sunshine Social in their incredible efforts in reducing their plastic footprint.
Plastic Free Noosa is free to join and provides personalised advice, resources and solutions for wherever you are at in your sustainability journey. Get involved here.
Ready to go plastic free? Plastic Free Noosa helps to protect the environment by empowering the Noosa community in eliminating single-use plastics through direct engagement, recognition and facilitating circular economies.
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