It has been in the news over the past few days that to tackle throw away culture there may be a small additional charge for using single use takeaway cups, about 20p.

There are many cafes and mobile food vans in Orkney that will fill up your own drinks containers for no extra charge.

photo N Morrison

The Pomona Cafe in Kirkwall was one of the first in Orkney to introduce this litter saving idea.

Dame Sue Bruce, Chair, Expert Panel on Environmental Charging and Other Measures said:

“There needs to be a fundamental move away from single-use disposable beverage cups and not just to an improved model for recycling.

“We have recommended a range of measures to achieve this – including charging separately for disposable cups and developing pilots to promote reusable cups.”

200 million single use cups are used in Scotland each year. The panel recommended several strategies – recognising that a range of ideas was needed, critically a cultural and behavioural change was required.

Certainly for many, if you are not sitting in to consume a drink, and you regularly visit a local cafe for a takeaway drink – how hard can it be to do so with a reusable container?