Get caffeinated. Reduce waste. (Yes, for real.)

In the U.S., we throw away 58 billion paper cups every year.

REAL QUICK, LET’S REVIEW the DOOM AND GLOOM

As a cafe, we’re well aware that many of those billions of cups come from coffee alone. (All together, we drink over 400 million cups of coffee per day!! no wonder we use so many exclamation points!!!)

“But wait!!,” we hear you thinking, “Can’t paper cups be recycled??”

We hate to be the ones to break it to you, but... the vast majority of paper cups are not recyclable.

Most paper cups have a thin layer of non-recyclable, water-resistant plastic on the inside, so they can hold hot drinks. (And don’t even get us started on the non-degradable plastic lids, and the fact that 50% of coffee sold in the US is iced — and usually enjoyed in plastic cups...)

Research shows that roughly 99.75% of coffee cups can’t be recycled. And while paper may eventually degrade once it enters a landfill, its plastic lining won’t...

That means disposable coffee cups from New York City are filling up landfills, and sticking around for up to a thousand years.

Coffee is awesome. Our grab, go, and toss-out habit is not.

MORE DOOM, more GLOOM (sorry, almost done!!)

In the US, most coffee shops just give out to-go cups as a default, even if you’re staying for a while. It’s part of our cultural logic that faster, easier, and more efficient = better.

Even at Lattente’s flagship store, a small, neighborhood cafe where we strive to use only reusable cups — we give out an average of 200 to-go cups PER DAY. That's way too many.

If you’re thinking, “But wait again!! I love grabbing and going!! What about those new, fancy, 100% compostable cups??”

More disapointing news for you: Those only break down if you actually bring them to a composting facility.

And let’s be honest. How many New Yorkers are holding on to their to-go coffee cup so they can bring it with the rest of their compostable items to a faraway facility on a Sunday afternoon...?

(If that’s you, you’re awesome — but keep reading to find an easier, more environmentally friendly way to get your morning joe).

FEELINGS BREAK!

We know this might be super overwhelming!

When we found out that paper and compostable cups aren’t actually solving the problem, we were shocked, too.

So whether this is all news to you or you’ve been thinking about this stuff for a while, no worries — there’s actually a really easy way to help reduce waste from to-go coffee cups.

(And at Lattente, it involves free caffeine...)

Switch to reusable coffee cups.

With that one small change, you help prevent waste, reduce pollution, protect natural resources, and save energy. When it comes to your coffee, it’s that simple.

Here’s what you can do next...

Get a free shot of espresso when you bring your reusable cup to our cafe.

If you don’t already have your own reusable cup, you can get a Lattente tumbler.

If you sell coffee and want to join us to reduce to-go cup waste in Brooklyn, get in touch.

Reuse cups. Create less trash. Get free caffeine. That’s a win, win, win situation for all of us!

Stop by our cafe with your reusable to-go cup, and get a free shot of espresso!

(btw: 1 free shot of espresso = $1.50 in your pocket)

And if you’re the brew-at-home type, bring your own container to the store, and we’ll fill it with your whole bean or ground coffee of choice for 10% off.

Come find us at our brand new Brooklyn cafe at 219 Bedford Avenue, between North 4th St. & North 5th St.

Omg, I need this. Directions to Lattente, please!

Don’t have a reusable cup? Or forgot yours at home? No worries — we got you.

Remember, the more you reuse, the less waste you create. So if you already have a reusable cup, just use that one.

If not though, you can get a Lattente tumbler for $13, online or in-store.

Also! If one day you stop by our store and realize you forgot your tumbler at home, don’t worry — you can still avoid using a disposable cup.

Borrow one of our tumblers any time, on the spot. Then return it later and get your money back.

I need a reusable tumbler! Put one in my shopping cart

We know this works, because we’ve done it before

We envision a city-wide network of cafes committed to reducing waste from to-go cups

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Lattente is part of a network of sustainable cafes called Cafe Circular.

Sparknotes version: Hundreds of cafes offer reusable cups. You get your coffee at one of these cafes and leave an extra few bucks to get it in a reusable cup.

Then you go about your day, and when you’re all done sipping, you can return the cup at ANY of the cafes in the network, and get those few extra bucks back.

Thus far, this system has helped avoid more than 350,000 disposable cups ending up in the trash in Argentina.

We’re just getting started here in Brooklyn, but we’ve seen what can happen when coffee sellers work together to make an impact.

If you’re interested in collaborating to reduce waste in our beautiful city, please reach out. (Also, we moved here not that long ago... so we love to make new friends!)

I’m a fellow coffee seller and I’m into this! Let’s connect!

In case you’re wondering why we care so much about reusable coffee cups...

Hi! We’re Zehan and Daniel.

We’re two friends, coffee-lovers, and co-founders of Lattente. We started up in 2011 with a simple proposition: start with great coffee, and everything else will follow.

But as we’ve grown, we’ve learned more and more about the journey from bean to cup, and the impact that coffee culture has on our environment. (And we don’t plan to ever stop learning, btw.)

And now that we both have kids, we want those kids to inherit a world as beautiful (or even more beautiful) than the one we know.

We’re both passionate about coffee, and we know that climate change and unsustainable practices are leading the crop towards extinction — and with it, endangering the ecosystems and human lives that depend on coffee.

So, as coffee sellers, we believe it’s our responsibility to minimize the environmental impact of our product however we can.

We have six friendly, neighborhood coffee shops in Buenos Aires, and we’re so excited to invite you to our first cafe in the U.S., right here in Brooklyn!

We love when folks stick around all afternoon, daydreaming as they look out the window and sip coffee from our beautiful ceramic cups....

So come on in, and stay a while.

See you in the cafe!
Zehan & Daniel

Q&A time!

If you have a question that’s not listed here, just get in touch with us. In case you haven’t noticed... we’re super friendly!

Help reduce waste in our beautiful city

Bring your cup to Lattente. Get an extra shot on us.