Trashless Takebacks is a network of reusable, swappable, lovable to-go cups. They turn a cost (disposable cups) - into real earnings, while saving the coffee shop time, and attract more environmentally sustainable consumers.

Easy to set up and reuse - these cups stack tightly and are washable just like dine-in cups. Made in the USA with BPA-free polypropylene - a safer, recyclable material compared to the polyethylene coating that lines the insides of most ‘paper’ cups that makes them non-recyclable and non-compostable. 

Trashless Takebacks are dishwasher safe and are engineered for 100s of uses.

Customers pay a recommended $3 to join in - giving the shop a total of around 70-80 cents in savings & earnings (50 cents margin on new cups, 20-30 cents savings on disposable cups). They can then swap their cup at any participating shop or venue for a clean one filled with the beverage they order. We recommend they keep their lid, or purchase another one for 40 cents.

The cup is 17 fl.oz. in volume, with a 12 fl.oz. mark. They can be used for hot and cold beverages. It’s a versatile, strong, beautiful cup that serves all purposes and gives customers a better drinking experience.

Every cup has a playful, unique name, and its own QR code affixed on it that identifies them. This lends itself to the shop being able to run simple promotions such as “Bring back the cup ‘Playful Monkey’ for a free drink on us.” Trashless & Odeko can run such campaigns at a wider level as well. 
The design on the cup is contributed by local artists and changes regularly. This process is run on social media, using tags and hashtags, with the most liked artwork making it on the next batch of 5000 cups on a rolling basis. Find details on the Trashless Instagram and Twitter accounts @trashlessdotcom.

It is recommended that the QR code is scanned by the coffee shop after washing and before reuse via the easy to use Trashless mobile app, after logging in to their shop’s account they can create at trashless.com/takebacks. This builds up your shop’s live environmental impact report and helps you stand out as a leader in your community.

These cups also cut down on your trash hauling effort and cost, help utilize your current costs better, while also saving storage space by reducing the inventory of cups you need to store.

Trashless Takebacks cups are a climate change fighting solution that help save the humpbacks, while earning you some greenbacks.

Trashless Takebacks Cups are for any place that uses or serves in disposable cups. This includes coffee shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, office kitchens, venues of all types, arenas, stadiums, hospitals and more. 

Search for your business at the top of this page. Claim the business if you are the owner or manager of the business of it. We will verify each claim and all false claims will be reversed. 

If you cannot find your location in the search bar, select 'Can't find your shop' and create a listing by entering important details about your business. 

Order Trashless Takebacks cups - directly from Trashless, or through one of our distribution partners, including Odeko for $2.50 each. If you don't find Trashless cups on the Odeko catalog, or would like your distributor to carry them, or have any other questions or concerns, please text us at 512.399.2525 or write to us at support@trashless.com.

Get a 25% discount on your first order. All orders are shipped with via UPS Ground within 1-2 business days. 

The first shipment of the cups to each location will include a Starter Kit comprising of a store counter display, window stickers and information to get you and your team started. 

Your location will automatically go live on the map on the Trashless App after the Cups have been delivered. 

1. Add Trashless Takebacks Cup into your POS. We recommend that they be priced at $3. 

2. Set up the store display on the counter, with a sample cup next to it.

3. Put the window sticker on the shop's entry door. 
  
4. Orient your staff with the details of the program. 

That's it - your shop is now on its way to a waste-free future! 

While consumer awareness that climate change is being caused by aggregate individual actions is on the rise, it isn't automatic - and naturally so - people are busy, with a lot going on.

Our partner businesses do a terrific job of bringing this realization to their customers, and help activate them on to a waste-free path. We look forward to our current and future partners to continue this effort that contributes to greater saving, cleaner communities and a greener planet. 

Once a customer chooses a Trashless Takebacks Cup - simple add that item to their total, serve the drink in a new/washed cup for them to enjoy on the go, waste-free. 

When a customer brings in a clean or dirty Trashless Takebacks for swapping, we suggest you receive it contactlessly - provide a tray or small tub into which they can be dropped in. Give the customer what they ordered in a washed Trashless Takebacks cup. 

Lids: In most cases, the customer should keep their lid and place it on the new cup - for obvious reasons. We recommend that you order and keep extra lids on hand in case a customer asks for a new one. Lids can be purchased for 20c each, and the suggested retail price is 25c. 

Tip: Many Takebacks partners offer a small discount (such as 25c) when swapping a Trashless cup for a fresh one. Others charge for disposable cups. This is at your discretion. 

When possible, we would love for you to recommend to the customer to Scan the QR code so that their impact will be recorded as well.

All dirty Trashless Takebacks cups received must be cleaned at the same standards as other serving dishes and tableware at the establishment, adhering to local health department laws.

Optional but recommended: Scan the unique QR code on the cups using the Trashless mobile app as they are being stacked after washing  - its very quick - takes just a few seconds. Why do it? Each scan adds to build on your shop’s live environmental impact report that appears on each shop's listing page on the Trashless website and app - helping attract more environmentally conscious customers. 

You can order more cups from the Trashless site/app or through your distributor. 

This happens very rarely - if a customer wants to return a Takebacks cup for a refund instead of a swap, please refund them $2.50 - the same price you would pay for a new cup.

The difference of 50c is the service fee you are charging them for handling the refund. 

Optional Takebacks Washing Services are being rolled out by Trashless as the network grows in various geographical areas. It is currently available in Austin, Texas. These services are priced at or below the cost of buying single-use cups - so it’s a no-brainer for businesses, and still leaves them room to give discounts to their customers for choosing Trashless Takebacks. 

Please follow the same health and sanitation protocols with Trashless Takebacks as you would on dishes you use to serve food and drink in the shop. These protocols should adhere to local health department guidelines in your area.

You can return unsold cups for full money back in case you don't like them or can't use them anymore for any reason. 

Send us a picture of it, we will give you a full credit for them into your Trashless account, regardless of whether it was damaged when in your shop, or when with a customer.

With each reuse, Trashless Takebacks cups make a real, measurable impact on CO2 emissions, the environmental damage and burden on public infrastructure caused by single use cups. The Trashless platform measures and presents this impact in real time on its apps and website - for consumers, shops, institutions, neighborhoods and cities. 

It will take persistent, long-term commitment by all involved to spawning reuse paradigms for sustainability benefits to fully unfold. 

Only 2500 paper cups come out of 1 tree. 
Let’s take New York City as an example to illustrate the impact: 
- At a million paper cups a day, NYC is drinking out of what came from 400 trees, everyday. 
- That's 146,000 trees every year. 
- Central Park has only about 18,000 trees. 
- So NYC is clearing out the size of Central Park every 6 weeks, just to drink their coffee. 

Across the US, 20 million trees are cut down every year for paper cups. 

Trashless Takebacks have no paper content - hence no trees are cut. 

Disposable ‘paper’ cups: 
- Aside from paper, around 5% of the material used in paper cups is plastic. 
- Less than 1% of cups use recycled paper due to health concerns.  

Trashless Takebacks cups: 
- Are made with high quality, BPA-free polypropylene hard plastic. 
- For health, durability and supply reasons, these cups are made with virgin materials and not recycled materials. The 100s of reuses these cups get put through overwhelmingly exceeds the benefits of using recycled materials. 

Disposable cups travel long distances - often from overseas, to be used just once, for just a few minutes. 

Trashless Takebacks cups are manufactured in the US from local materials. Once a reusable cup goes into service in a local area, the distance it travels for each reuse is basically zero - resulting in meaningful reduction in negative environmental impact. 

Disposable cups:
- They create waste - they are a burden on public infrastructure such as trash bins, garbage hauling/ sorting facilities, landfills, waste streams, waterways and more. 
- They are packaged in cardboard boxes for shipping - another contributor to waste. 
- With trash cans overflowing with disposable cups, they are an eyesore, especially in urban areas, with many of them spilling out, flying everywhere, and getting into sewers causing problems, including:  
  - Blockages: Garbage can accumulate in the pipes and create blockages, which can lead to sewage backups and flooding.
 - Damage to infrastructure: Garbage can damage the pipes and other components of the sewer system, leading to costly repairs. 
 - Environmental pollution: Garbage that enters bodies of water through the sewer system can harm aquatic life and pollute the environment.
 - Health hazards: Sewage backups and flooding caused by garbage in the sewers can lead to the spread of disease and other health hazards.
 - Costly clean-up: The cost of cleaning up and removing garbage from the sewers can be significant for municipalities and other entities responsible for maintaining the sewer system.All this creates an enormous burden on the environment. 

Trashless Takebacks cups significantly reduce the problems and eyesore associated with overflowing trash cans across cities.

Paper cups:
- Most paper cups are not recyclable because of the polyethylene plastic lining on the inside.
- For the same reason, paper cups are also not compostable. 100% compostable cups are prohibitively expensive, and hence have very low adoption. 
- In landfills, over a period of time, methane is released from the decomposition of cups and other such materials - a gas that is 14 times more harmful than CO2. 

Trashless Takebacks cups: 
- At the end of their life cycle - which can be 100s of uses over many years, Trashless cups can be recycled along with other #5 plastic items. 
- They are sturdy enough that they can be put to many uses after their life as cups is over - such as for growing plants in nurseries. Trashless plans to start programs to take cups back for such reuse. 

- Almost all steel containers come from Asian countries - involving long distance travel. 
- They are heavy and hence the transportation carbon footprint is even higher. They are wrapped in single-use plastic bags to prevent scratching during transportation. 
- Steel manufacturing has the highest carbon footprint of all materials: 1.85lbs of CO2 emissions for 1lb of steel manufactured (not including the process of molding it into the shape of a cup, which incurs additional resources).  
- Steel cups are a lot more expensive, and will result in a far lower reuse adoption rate than cheaper plastic cups. They are great to own for personal use, but not a great solution for mass deployment in a reusable cup network. 

1. Get your beverage in Trashless Takebacks at participating businesses serving beverages. Find them on the Trashless mobile app. 

2. Scan the unique QR code to record your environmental impact, and win rewards and prizes available from time to time.

3. Dirty or clean, swap it for clean filled Takebacks next time at any participating location.

If for some reason you don't want the cup any more, any participating business will give you a $2.50 refund for the cup. The 50 cents difference serves as processing and cleaning fee, plus the cost of the lid in case you don't return it. 

That’s great! You can put a Trashless Lost and Found Tag on your cup (and water bottles, grocery bags, etc.) to give them a better chance to come back to you, and for you to measure your impact with every use and be a part of the Trashless Network. It’s easy, quick and fun! Get them here! 

Yes you can, though we hope you will reuse them because that is how they are designed. The Trashless Tag on them will enable you to track your positive impact on the environment with each use.

We recommend that you make it a habit to simply leave the Trashless Cup in your vehicle or at your desk, or in your bag, and not bring it into your house. This way, whenever you stop at a coffee shop, you have it with you.

Your coffee shop can give you a cardboard sleeve to put on your Trashless Takebacks cup. Those are also built strong and can be reused multiple times. When going for a refill, just like the lid, simply keep the sleeve, and put it on the refilled Trashless Takebacks you receive. 

Yes, most participating locations should have lids you can have for only around 25c each. 

You are going to drink from these cups, so you might as well have a say in what goes on them. Or better still, even have your artwork on it! All the action is on the Instagram, at www.instagram.com/trashlessdotcom. 

Be an underwriter/sponsor: 
Brands, institutions, foundations and individuals can underwrite batches of 5000 cups, enabling them to show their support for environmental sustainability. A small logo/message from the underwriter will be printed on the cup. The underwriter will receive impact credits associated with the cups they underwrite. Trashless will provide anonymous data to the underwriter, including reuses, estimated impressions, impact and scan through rates (if a QR code to their web site is included). Underwritten cups will be sold to Odeko at a discount, which it will pass down to the coffee shop, which in turn can pass it down to the customer - thus helping further the cause of environmental sustainability. The artists whose artwork is on the cups that get underwritten will receive a cash credit on their Trashless Wallet. The underwriter will have no say in the main artwork that will go along with their cup. Write to cups@trashless.com to learn more. 

Be a local supporter/evangelist: 
We welcome environmental warriors - people who want to create real and positive impact on their communities' carbon footprint, to join our effort in one of many capacities. Please write to us at cups@trashless.com.  

Spread the word: 
Invite your favorite business serving to-go beverages to join the Trashless Takebacks network. Simply search for the shop on the top of this page and send the owner/manager the link to their shop. If the shop doesn't pull up, you can create it and then share the link, or invite them to this page. 

We would love to hear from you! Please contact us from the bottom menu. Please follow us on your favorite social media platform, we are @trashlessdotcom.