Over the past few years, brands have been growing more and more conscious about their impact on the planet. Recently, Starbucks made headlines when it announced it would eliminate plastic straws globally by 2020.

Many Irish brands and companies have been showing the same concern. Artisan restaurant and catering group Gourmet Food Parlour for instance has made significant changes across their restaurants and business in a bid to become greener and highlight the importance of recycling.

 

We are delighted to introduce our GFP Keepie Cups! As an environmentally conscious brand, we are proud to offer our customers a stylish, re-usable alternative to paper cups. With every refill using the Keepie Cup, we'll DOUBLE-STAMP your loyalty card Available for purchase in your local GFP for €10 #gogreen #keepiecup #gfp #reduce #reuse #recycle #ecofriendly #swords #santry #malahide #dunlaoghaire #skerries #playyourpart #playingourpart #coffeecup

A post shared by Gourmet Food Parlour (@gourmetfoodparlour) on Jul 18, 2018 at 7:15am PDT

According to research conducted by Dublin City Council, Irish people use over 200 million disposable coffee cups every year, these cups cannot be recycled and can only be disposed in a landfill or by incineration.

GFP have made the move to a more socially and environmentally conscious working environment by introducing a new recyclable range that will help to combat the growing problem of waste disposal in Ireland.

“We are very passionate about ensuring we are environmentally responsible in all areas of our business”, said Lorraine Heskin, Managing Director of Gourmet Food Parlour this week. “We are focusing on all aspects of our work practices to reduce waste and encourage recycling where possible. A new incentive we have introduced across the GFP restaurants will see customers receive two stamps on their loyalty cards for every coffee/hot drink purchased using their reusable coffee cups”

The Reduce, Reuse, Recycle changes include takeaway coffee cups being now fully recyclable, all takeaway cutlery changed from plastic options to wooden, new recyclable disposable plates and bowls, no more plastic straws being used in the restaurants, or a range of new recyclable containers for takeaway. The company also committed to moving to a paperless office where possible and to use reusable water bottles in the office environment.

As customers, we can only support businesses trying to become more eco-friendly!