The rumours are true, the lovely ladies at Responsible Cafes have passed the baton onto a new team of excited waste warriors- and we’d like to introduce ourselves!
Responsible Cafes has been fortunate to have had an abundance of inspiring change-makers drive its mission since 2013. Their hard work and dedication has led to over 5,000 cafes signing up as Responsible Cafes and an estimated 63.8 million coffee cups saved from landfill! Not to mention all of the innovative, change-driven campaigns and collaborations along the way. RC’s mission has always been to drive behaviour change, one morning coffee at a time.
Responsible Cafes has developed into an inspiring community of keen beans, cafes and councils striving to make real change from the ground up (litter-rly). We know that a sustainable society is rooted in behaviour change, and we believe the reuse movement will conquer a large portion of our current dire environmental situation. Collaboration between our councils, cafes and keen beans since Responsible Cafes’ inception has exemplified the willingness of our community to work towards a society that prioritises sustainability and a circular economy. Everyone that is a part of the RC community are invaluable crusaders in the war against waste and should be proud of their continued impact! We are so excited to work within this space!
So, without further ado…
We are a collective of women waste warriors with a shared goal to ensure reusable products become a habitual practice in everyone’s daily lives- from keen beans to cafes, and beyond!
Our team comes from a diverse range of backgrounds in social and impact entrepreneurship, graphic design, waste education, communications, partnerships, innovation, local government and the not-for-profit sector. Amongst us, we have degrees in Public Relations, Communication, Marketing, Management, Graphic Design, Global Studies, Yoga and Performing Arts! Our common ground lies in our passion for the environment, drive to instil sustainable practices in society and our love for coffee. We are a group of people who want to ensure the future of our environment and subsequent generations. Read more about us on the Our Story page!
Diving into all the great work that Responsible Cafes is known for, our team has outlined new directions for development to tackle the war on waste in new ways.
Responsible Cafes’ mission in promoting reuse through specialising in coffee cups has laid a strong foundation for growth in the area of sustainability and the circular economy. Such a foundation allows us to take new actions in developing RC’s mission beyond cafes to begin supporting other businesses within the community, including restaurants, independent retail stores and libraries! Not only that- but we are also expanding our focus to education around ALL single use takeaway products to coincide with new ban legislations in Australia.
Former Responsible Cafes General Manager, Jo Horsley, recently spilled the beans on how we can continue to develop in a post-covid world. As our new team navigates our way through a post-covid climate, we seek to ensure sustainable solutions need not be put by the wayside. We’re focused on ensuring that safety and sustainability can coexist by educating cafe owners and coffee drinkers on best practices.
In the spirit of introductions, we’d like to take this opportunity to announce our first action as a new team. Introducing Approved by RC: A new stamp of approval for environmentally friendly products!
Approved by RC: A New Initiative
In the same spirit as the B Corp certification, ‘Approved by RC’ is a new standard of approval that supports products that focus on either Reduce, Reuse or Recycle as their main vision for the future and meet the highest standards of verified environmental performance.
Approved products will be assessed by the Responsible Cafes team with 3 main criteria:
1. Product circularity and end-of-life
2. Environmental impact and certifications
3. User experience
Seeing the Approved by RC stamp of approval represents the sustainable validity of a product, so that you know you are making a choice that invests in the environment. Approved by RC ensures you avoid greenwashing, knowing that our team has ensured its credibility as a product that meets the highest standards of verified environmental performance.
Approved by RC seeks to present new innovations of reusable products and better options than plastic lined or commercially compostable packaging where reusable is not an option.
Reusable solutions will always be our top priority, but we can’t deny that until we completely transition to a circular model there must be interim solutions. Approved by RC means we are able to acknowledge products that fill this gap.
As an impartial partner, our team will always research, verify, test and try all products before introducing them to our community.
Our new team is thrilled to be a part of the change that Responsible Cafes is driving within Australia. We look forward to collaborating with fellow waste warriors and to reap the benefits of a society that prioritises sustainability!
Stay tuned for more exciting initiatives, campaigns and collaborations! x