Here’s why we re-use our cups at The Yard.
It’s been reported that every minute, around the world, around one million disposable cups end up in landfills, or worse yet… in oceans.
Did you know? Plastic cups do not get recycled in our magic city on the sea in Miami, no matter what number they read on the bottom. Waste management does not sort through cups to select what is recycled and not recycled.
In case you missed it the first time… Cups are never recycled here.
Plastic cups take thousands of years to break down. Plastic never truly disintegrates, rather it slowly breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces of microplastic, posing a major threat to marine animals, and the safety of consumable seafood.
This is a world-wide issue, and we must do our part here in Miami to help reduce waste in each of our own personal lives. We can be part of the problem… or we can be part of the solution.
At Yard Hospitality, we love and use two types of reusable cups. HaloVino, although created perfectly for drinking wine, can also be used for cocktails, beer, kombucha, or anything else that strikes your fancy. Klean Kanteen stainless cups are sleek, hip, engravable, and keep liquids cold much longer than plastic.
At The Wynwood Yard, over the course of 2.5 years, we were able to replace 2,835 disposable cups with reusable ones, leading to an even greater number of single-use plastic cups never used if the reusable ones were used repeatedly throughout the time at the yard.
HaloVino
HaloVino® reusable wine tumblers were created by Jessica Bell, a sommelier, wine school owner, and internationally respected wine educator. She created HaloVino® as the “smart and fun solution to non-glass wine consumption.
HaloVino is the world’s first shatterproof, stackable, stemless wine glass that can now be used at hotel pools and beaches, restaurants, outdoor venues, concert stadiums, MLB ballparks, NBA stadiums, major festivals, grocery stores and backyard shindigs.
As HaloVino was created by a som (and wine snob) who knows wine, it was developed with the perfect shape for showcasing wine’s aroma and taste. Wine smells and tastes worlds better when enjoyed from this tumbler over a plastic tumbler. Wine drinkers rejoice! You can now enjoy wine again at outdoor venues!
They are plastic, but they are re-useable plastic. That’s the big difference!
HaloVino wine tumblers are made with BPA-free plastic- it’s actually the same type that’s used for baby bottles! It’s completely safe to drink from over and over and over.
The plastic is so awesome, it can be run through the dishwasher at high temps–even through industrial dishwashers–and you’ll be amazed when you drop it in boiling water and it holds its shape!
HaloVino is currently working with a company to take the technology of their plastic one step further, and actually produce these tumblers from recycled #5 plastics (the ones used for many food containers) closing the loop on full circle recycling, re-purposing, and re-use of plastic.
The tumbler can be broken down into two pieces to conveniently stack. This is helpful for venues and bars in terms of storage space and shelf real estate. For customers, this function makes it super quick and easy to pop the tumbler in a purse or pocket for eco-conscious wine drinking on-the-go.
HaloVino design is interesting and different. Once you understand its function, it all makes perfect sense. There is a “halo” around the middle of the tumbler. The halo serves several functions.
- It’s where the cup separates to stack.
- It creates a spill-proof connection when the tumbler is assembled.
- It serves as a stem on the stemless wine glass. Rest your wine tumbler in your fingers under the halo, and the temperature of the wine is not raised by the warmth of your hand.
- The halo floats! These tumblers are perfect for the pool and beach!
- The halo may even prevent spills when the tumbler is knocked over, as it often catches the wine from spilling out. We can’t make any guarantees to this claim, but we have seen it happen!
HaloVino will be found at our bar at The Doral Yard, but you can also purchase them online for home use. Always remember to bring your HaloVino wine tumbler with you to the yard to save $1 on every glass of wine.
Klean Kanteen
HaloVino might be clutch for wine drinking, but when it comes to drinking draft beer, nothing beats a stainless steel tumbler like Klean Kanteen.
We started offering these cool tumblers as part of our community clean-up programs starting in August, 2017, in partnership with <Hyperlink> Debris Free Oceans. They were such a hit, we decided to also sell them at the bar. Like HaloVino, these reusable tumblers get customers $1 off every beer for ever more at the bar.
Over the course of our community clean up initiative, which we appropriately dubbed “Pub Crawl Pick Up,” we saw over 635 participants join us in the fight against urban street garbage. Over the course of 18 months, we collected over 3800 pounds of garbage, saving it from going down storm drains and eventually making its way to our bays and beaches.
Yay, Yard Green Team!
Carrying our Klean Kanteen cups along with us on the journeys not only got our do-gooders a local brew at each of our sponsored stopping points in Wynwood, but it also reminded us that every piece of plastic we use counts. When we’re forced to consider and handle every piece of trash we encounter, it becomes painfully evident how much plastic waste is generated every day.
These clean-ups and the re-usable cups create awareness and serve as a reminder that each one of us has a key role in the earth’s future. We can either keep using single-use plastics and contribute to the growing plastic problem on our planet, OR we can be part of the solution.
BYOC
By making the small but impactful decision to BYOC (Bring your own cup) wherever you go, refusing to use single use cups, you are making a huge difference.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead
Re-use cups. Ask for more refills and add less to the landfills. “Be the change you wish to see in the world!” –Ghandi.