Event and Festival Single-Use Cup Reduction... 'Zero Cafe Cha' Operated at Cigarette Butt Pickup Event

On the 12th at Yeouido Hangang Park, 'Zero Cafecha' operated during the 'No Smoking Campaign' event... Reusable cup experience held
Reducing the most discarded trash, cigarette butts, and disposable cups together

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is operating a 'Zero Cafe Car' that uses reusable cups to reduce the use of disposable cups at recent events and festivals.

According to Seoul City on the 11th, the city will provide participants with an experience using reusable cups at the 'No-Dam Campaign' cigarette butt collection event held at Yeouido Hangang Park on the 12th. The event is hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Promotion Institute, with about 70 volunteers from environmental group Wipers, who protect the Earth, 'No-Dam Members' who participate in smoking prevention, and Good Neighbors, along with rapper Raewon, who is involved in the anti-smoking movement.

This reusable cup experience through the Zero Cafe Car was planned to raise awareness of the seriousness of environmental problems caused by disposable cup waste, which is frequently discarded along with cigarette butts?the top item in illegal littering?and to promote the use of reusable cups as an alternative. The city prepared the coffee car in collaboration with the Happy Connect Foundation, which promotes the 'Zero Cafe' project. The 'Zero Cafe Car' allows customers to pay a 1,000 won deposit when using a reusable cup at the coffee car and receive a 1,000 won refund upon returning the cup, enabling cup reuse.

Seoul City plans to use this experience event as an opportunity to promote that reusable cups can be used at coffee cars as well. They will encourage business operators to participate by expanding the scope of the reusable cup distribution project, which was mainly operated within stores, to outdoor events, festivals, and celebrity support coffee cars.

Hwang Seung-yong, CEO of Wipers, an environmental group that collects trash participating in this event, said, "When picking up trash, the most frequently collected items are undoubtedly cigarette butts and disposable cups," adding, "People smoke while drinking coffee and illegally discard the waste in alleys or even put cigarette butts into cups and throw them away. Dirty cups are difficult to recycle."

Seoul City plans to produce a promotional video for 'Zero Cafe,' including interviews about the cigarette butt collection volunteer activity and reusable cup experience, and release it on the Seoul Climate and Environment Headquarters' YouTube channel 'Zero Seoul.'

Yoo Yeon-sik, head of the Seoul Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, "Since many citizens use the Hangang River, issues with waste disposal such as cigarette butts and disposable products have emerged," adding, "It is meaningful to expand the use of reusable cups outdoors through this event to reduce disposable cup waste and to promote a smoking prevention campaign with youth that negatively affects not only health but also the environment."