GREEN coffee may not sound too appealing, but at a Barton cafe, it’s become the daily grind for public servants after their caffeine fix.

Since 2005, Cafe Brindabella at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has had a 20c “greening levy” for customers who use takeaway cups to encourage people to bring their own mugs, with the money raised going towards local charity Greening Australia’s “Bridge The Gap” project, which assists landowners undertake restoration to restore vegetation.

Cafe Brindabella owner Skye Palmer says since launching the scheme the business has made almost $200,000 to go towards the project; which helped plant thousands of trees in the Cotter region alone.

“We started with about 40 per cent of people bringing mugs and now there’s over 65 per cent bringing them every day – I’m astounded more cafes don’t do it, because there’s been so much goodwill from customers,” Skye says.

“We’re only a small business, but it shows every small business can make a difference.”

Last year another cafe in the parliamentary triangle, at the Department of the Environment, followed Skye’s lead after Greening Australia made calls to convince other businesses to take on the initiative.

“I’d love to see this rolled out in every cafe, particularly public service buildings where there’s a cafe, because they are the prime places where people don’t usually have to leave the building to get coffee,” says Skye.

“All the governments have an environmental management policy, and this will certainly go a long way towards fulfilling the department’s obligation – it’s just such a no-brainer.”

Skye says she initially decided to launch the scheme after getting sick of seeing so many disposable cups thrown away in bins around the building.

“There were so many workers just grabbing a takeaway coffee in one of the disposable cups then either going back upstairs to their desk or sitting at one of the tables, then just chucking them out each day,” she says.

“I decided to support Greening Australia in the initiative because they’re local, and they’re doing something good so we can show people where their money is going – we’ve even had a few DFAT workers go and plant some trees themselves, and we try and post photos in the cafe of the restoration that can happen from planting the trees, particularly after our bushfires, so customers can see where their money is going.”

Greening Australia donations officer Angela Kaplish says she will continue to approach local cafes in the hope more jump on board.

“I know Canberrans would be supportive because we’re such an environmentally conscious city. Even when we had the plastic bag ban, there was a bit of grumbling about it, but most people really got into it,” she says.

“This is just such a great and easy way for businesses to help the environment, and the money goes a long way.”

For more information visit greeningaustralia.org.au/community/capital-region