The Petaluma Reusable
Cup Project
The collaboration made reusable cups the default option in national and local restaurants across the City of Petaluma.
The Petaluma Reusable Cup Project was the NextGen Consortium’s latest collaborative initiative bringing together global brands, local business and public leaders to launch a first-of-its-kind, city-wide reusable cup system.
In the City of Petaluma, CA, participating restaurants swapped their single-use cups with reusable ones from August to November 2024, offering free to-go reusable cups as the default option that can be dropped off at widespread return points across the city.
Whenever people purchased beverages at participating locations, they were invited to return their empty reusable cups to any participating location or to return bins located throughout Petaluma. Returned cups were professionally washed and sanitized before being put back to work for the duration of the project.
By replacing single-use cups with free, returnable cups, we aimed to make returns as easy as possible, reduce the volume of waste sent to landfills and advance a cultural shift toward reuse.
Want to learn more about the project? Click the link below!