If you’ve seen the BBC’s Blue Planet II you’ll know the devastating impact plastic pollution is having on the world’s oceans. Marine life unknowingly ingests the plastic waste – either as microplastics or as larger pieces – or becomes entangled in it. It takes hundreds of years to break down, meaning it presents a long-term threat to the natural world.

Friends of the Earth estimate that 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups are used each year in the UK alone – and the overwhelming majority are not recycled. In fact, they say that “the reality is that less than 1 per cent of coffee cups ever end up being recycled” due to the plastic polyethylene waterproof lining and hard polystyrene lids. This means, of course, that 99% of that 2.5 billion end up in landfill or being incinerated.

How can we all make a difference?

We all know we need to massively reduce our consumption of single-use plastic, and that includes disposable coffee cups. When we were developing the Rabot body scrubs, we came up with the idea of using a reusable coffee cup as the packaging. Simply use the product and then, when it’s empty, pop it through the dishwasher. We’ve lovingly crafted it from bamboo, corn fibre and wood fibre but although it’s 75% biodegradable, we want you to reuse, reuse, reuse. As a thank you, you’ll get 35p off your hot drink if you bring your reusable cup in to any Hotel Chocolat café in the UK.

Scrub and sip…and let’s help tackle coffee cup waste together.