Re-usable coffee cups.
Question: How can you help save the environment, save
yourself some money … and enjoy being
involved in the mission of God … and all
at the same time?
Answer: By taking someone out for a coffee and using one of
our seventy-two re-usable coffee cups.
Challenge 1:
saving the world one cup of coffee at a time.
According to the
latest statistics, the UK throws away around three billion disposable cups a
year. That’s over 5000 every minute! As if that’s not enough of a problem, a
lot of the cups used in high street coffee chains aren’t actually recyclable.
The problem’s the polyethylene that makes them waterproof that can only be
recycled at a tiny number of specialised plants. So simply by reusing a cup,
you can help cut down on harmful landfill waste.
Christians have tended to stay fairly quiet in the
environmental debate, although everything suggests a large proportion of new,
younger, Christians assume creation care is an integral part of Christian
lifestyle. Taking a reusable out with you, acts as a visual, gentle reminder we
can make a small, positive, difference every day.
Challenge 2:
saving money one cup of coffee at a time.
Starbucks still offer a 25p per cup discount offer if you
use your own cup. Apparently they withdrew their 50p a cup offer because not
enough people took them up on the offer! Now that doesn't make any sense, to
me, common, business or ethical. However, some people do and it’s always worth
asking, as at least it keeps the issue in the frame. Even one cup a week adds
up to £13 a year savings you can donate to a worthy cause, or even warm
yourself from the glow of being a better steward! Stewardship is a seriously
under-sold facet
But what if owning one of our cups prompted you to buy
someone a coffee on a regular basis? Imagine the impact if we had a DNA group
meeting in every one of the 22,000 plus coffee shops now in the UK. Imagine the
impact if you were prompted to take a friend out for coffee once a month.
Coffee#1 don’t provide free internet access because they want people to sit
down and enjoy their coffee and talk to people. We want you to enjoy your
coffee, but see it as means to create the space to listen to a friend and maybe
God will turn up in the conversation.
Challenge 3:
saving the world one person at a time.
How many of us
started our Christian journey with the desire to see the whole world converted
to following Jesus, but somewhere along the road lost the depth of passion? My
guess is, however, whilst most of us may have allowed that expectation to
evaporate, we still have a passion to see some people we know personally, come
to know Jesus and be rescued by him. We’re encouraging as many people as we can
to pray daily for five people who are not yet followers of Jesus. Praying for ‘five
a day’ is something we can all do and the knowledge that one in every five
people in Britain is, right now, open to knowing more about Jesus should give
us all the encouragement we need that God is already out there, ahead of us,
drawing people to himself.
