For consumers

Coffee- or Lunch-To-Go is a great option if you are short of time to consume your hot drink, lunch or dinner in a restaurant or café and want to enjoy it on the go, in the park or at home. Due to the modern lifestyle, but also due to the measures taken during the pandemic, to-go consumption and thus the consumption of disposable packaging has increased significantly, which can be regrettably seen in the littered streets.

3 peopel having a picnic in a parc

© Schramm / LIFE e.V.

The sharp increase in consumption of disposable packaging is having a strong impact on the environment and a negative impact on the climate. In Berlin alone, 170 million coffee-to-go cups are consumed every year (source: Better World Cup) – so every minute in Berlin, over 323 cups end up in the rubbish! In addition, there are huge amounts of plastic bags and packaging waste for takeaway food. The production, delivery and disposal of products with a useful life of often less than 15 minutes takes up a lot of energy and consumes valuable resources. This does not have to be!

In the project “Mehrweg statt Einweg – Ein Projekt zur Müllreduzierung im Bereich Turmstraße” (“Reusable instead of disposable packaging – a project to reduce waste in the Turmstraße area”), we would like to work with you and gastronomies/caterine companies in the centre of Berlin-Moabit to avoid disposable products without having to give up out-of-home consumption. Be part of a trend reversal towards more sustainability and modern consumption! Our website will gradually present gastronomic establishments in the Turmstraße area that are already setting an example against mountains of waste and support reusable products. Stay tuned!

From January 2023, there will be a compulsory reusable offer for gastronomy. Depending on the size of the establishment, they will be required to either provide reusable systems for take-away food and drinks for you to rent or fill your own containers. However, disposable packaging will still exist! So it’s crucial that consumers choose the reusable option for positive change to happen – and it’s happening now.