Coffee shops in the state of Washington have joined forces to launch the Bring Your Own Cup (BYOC) Campaign.
BY BHAVI PATEL
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Featured photo courtesy of Dubsea Coffee
A grassroots movement is percolating through the state of Washington’s independent coffee scene. Six cafés spanning over a dozen locations—Amazonia Café, Dubsea Coffee, FIT BAR Superfood Cafe, Farmer’s Union Coffee Roasters, Cafe Dulzura, and Mighty Mugs Coffee—have united around a deceptively simple idea: encouraging customers to carry reusable cups through coordinated awareness campaigns about disposable cup waste. They’re calling it the Bring Your Own Cup (BYOC) Campaign and are calling on other coffee shops to join their coalition.
Small Gestures, Collective Momentum
The Bring Your Own Cup Campaign transcends typical individual business sustainability efforts by demonstrating coordinated action among coffee shops that would otherwise be seen as “competitors.” All participating coffee shops have committed to displaying the same informative flyer in their stores, which shares information on the impact of disposable cup waste in the United States.
Jenessa Pettit, owner of Mighty Mugs Coffee, reiterates the collaborative spirit driving the initiative: “We are all in this together. We all know, the less single-use waste, the better for our city and our environment. This is an easy way to encourage less waste while working as a community towards a common goal.”
Participating in Renton, Wash.’s BYOC program sparked Mighty Mugs to make a broader commitment: the coffee shop chain now extends discounts for personal cups across all locations—Burien, West Seattle, Kent, and Renton—transforming municipal initiative into company-wide philosophy at their drive-through operations.
Artistic Expression Meets Environmental Action
Located in Washington’s White Center neighborhood, Dubsea Coffee presents a creative spin on the campaign, using it as a foundation for collaborations with local artists. The single-location coffee shop has begun featuring monthly exhibitions of locally made ceramics, presenting the reusable cup as both a canvas for personal expression and an environmentally-conscious choice.
“We love seeing our customers express their creativity and experiences with artistically crafted cups that speak to them,” says Carrie Wilkins, owner of Dubsea Coffee. Each participating customer also receives fifty cents off their beverage—a tangible incentive reinforcing sustainable choices.
The synergy extends through partnership with Brush It Off Seattle, a neighborhood pottery studio. Customers attend ceramic classes, craft personalized cups, and showcase their creations at annual community events. The collaboration between Dubsea and Brush it Off nurtures local creative ecosystems while advancing waste reduction goals.
Awareness Before Infrastructure
Jenessa of Mighty Mugs Coffee shares how she hopes for the BYOC Campaign to impact the greater industry long-term, by leading consumers to change their daily habits in small yet impactful ways. “I see this bringing awareness to our staff and our patrons around how we can reduce waste with small choices every day. In the long term, I hope it creates less waste for our communities,” she told Barista Magazine.
One of the most impactful aspects of the campaign is its emphasis on staff education alongside customer participation, recognizing baristas as sort of “sustainability ambassadors.” The campaign emphasizes that when employees understand the environmental rationale behind the BYOC Campaign, they will communicate the importance of it with customers more authentically, helping solidify people’s willingness to participate.
The flyer campaigns represent deliberate choice—visible, educational materials that spark conversations rather than mandate compliance. This soft-touch approach respects customer autonomy while providing information enabling informed decisions about daily consumption patterns.
Independent cafés wielding collective influence through voluntary coordination offer a refreshing counter-narrative to corporate sustainability initiatives. These businesses demonstrate that meaningful environmental action emerges from community values rather than boardroom mandates. Their success may inspire similar coalitions nationwide, proving small businesses united around shared purpose can generate ripple effects extending far beyond their immediate neighborhoods while maintaining distinctive identities and serving diverse clientele.
Join the Movement
The BYOC Campaign is calling on other coffee shops to join the movement. Here’s how to do so:
- Download one of these flyers (or any other flyer that features statistics about disposable cup waste).
- Print it at any size.
- Put it somewhere visible in your café.
- Email me@markxu.com with a picture of the flyer in your café.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bhavi Patel is a food writer focusing on coffee and tea, and a brand-building specialist with a background in dairy technology and an interest in culinary history and sensory perception of food.
Subscribe and More!
As always, you can read Barista Magazine in paper by subscribing or ordering an issue.
Support Barista Magazine with a Membership.
Signup for our weekly newsletter.
Read the December 2025 + January 2026 Issue for free with our digital edition.
For free access to more than five years’ worth of issues, visit our digital edition archives here.
