65,500 reusable cups have been ordered for Putney’s pubs by Positively Putney BID since the initiative was launched in 2019, saving an estimated 3 million single use plastics!
Putney’s pubs will be serving up pints on Boat Race day and throughout the Summer in reusable cups, slashing plastic waste. Organised and ordered by Positively Putney BID (BID), reusable cups will be used by pubs and bars along the river and on the high street.
People will be able to reuse their cups or return them to the pubs to be washed and re-used up to 50 times, meaning together we have saved over 3 million single use plastic cups ending up landfill or potentially the river over the last six years. Up to 300 tonnes of rubbish is recovered from the Thames every year. Single use plastic accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the litter, harming wildlife and eventually ending up in the ocean. Of this, single use plastic cups are one of the most found litter items.
Nicola Grant, Executive Director of Positively Putney BID, says:
“The Annual Boat Race, starting at Putney Bridge, is one of London’s biggest sporting events, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors to our riverbanks every year and a very busy day for our pubs and bars. This year we have provided 13,500 reusable cups, and if they are used just a few times each on Boat Race day we could easily prevent 50,000 single use plastics ending in landfill in just that one day. This is a great example of the community coming together to clean up the environment.”
In The Drink, a not-for-profit scheme working to cut single-use plastic on the riverside, advised Positively Putney BID in the early days. In 2024, they have completed an extensive survey of 250 venues along the Thames, from Thames Ditton to Gravesend, to better understand how, why, and when single use plastic cups are used. Drawing on these insights, they have recently produced a report advocating for new legislation to ban single-use plastic cups along the Thames – an initiative they hope to expand more broadly across the UK in the future.
The Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race will be held on Sunday, 13th April 2025. More than 250,000 people line the banks for the annual event.
After Boat Race Day, the pubs and bars will use the cups for outside drinking and on football match days when they also serve in plastic.