More than a quarter of us now bring our own mugs to campus
Posted on behalf of: The Sustainability Team
Last updated: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Thousands of disposable cups have been saved from going in the bin as more of our campus community than ever bring their own mugs to our cafes.
We’ve avoided using almost 31,000 disposable cups since September, saving the University and our catering partners £5,875.
And we nearly reached our ambitious target: for 30% of all sales to be in non-disposable cups by Easter. In fact, in both March and April, 27.5% of all coffee lovers brought their own cups (or used one of ours) in our Sussex Uni Food campus cafes.
And our returnable cup scheme continues to go from strength to strength, with 911people joining since September.
Still work to do to ditch the disposables
But while more people chose to ditch the disposables, we did throw away 122,628 cups since September.
If these were stacked up, the pile would be almost four times the height of the Eiffel Tower.
“We’re really proud of the work we’ve done as a campus community to reduce the amount of disposable cups on campus,” says Sandra Juan Delgado, Sustainability Manager for Sussex Uni Food.
“Each month, we’ve seen an increase in the number of staff and students bringing their own cups, particularly in Eat Central and Arts Piazza Cafe.
“But we’re still throwing away far too many disposable cups every month – these can’t be recycled easily so they end up going for incineration. And because you pay 20p more for a disposable cup, this is just burning money.”
How you can help
Remember your reusable cup when you’re coming to campus. If you forget, you can pay £3.95 to be join the returnable cup scheme which means you can swap your cup for a token any time to avoid carrying it around!
Think twice about getting a cup that will end up in the bin – check out our recent video which went out on Instagram:
View this post on Instagram
What else are we doing to cut waste?
We are working to boost recycling rates across our campus, with the expansion of what you can recycle, including introducing food waste recycling in cafes and office kitchens.
We also recently launched new incentives for using our reverse vending machines to recycle drinks cans and plastic bottles.
And for students moving out, you can now donate clothes, kitchenware or other items you no longer want or need at one of our on-campus donation points. Your items will go to the new Student Union Swap N Shop, a brand new space where all students can take what they need for free, or to the British Heart Foundation's charity shops to raise funds.
If you have any ideas to share, we’d love to hear them. Just email sustainable@sussex.ac.uk or follow us on Instagram and send us a DM.
This work supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production) and SDG 13 (climate action). You can read more about our work on the SDGs here.