Mike O'Reilly is the owner of Caffe Motivo in downtown Kamloops, which has been doing its part to reduce its carbon footprint. The company offers discounts on these travel mugs which were brought in as a substitute for paper cups, and it's brought in paper straws to reduce plastic use.

(ASHLEY LEGASSIC - REPORTER / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - From doing away with plastic straws and paper coffee cups, to being productive with food waste, at least three local Kamloops eateries are doing their part to reduce their carbon footprint.

Dino Bernardo is the co-owner of The Commodore on Victoria Street in Kamloops. He says the company is finding cost-effective ways to reduce the amount of waste that goes to the landfill — most recently by replacing plastic straws with paper ones.

Bernardo says The Commodore has stopped giving straws with every drink and most people don't even notice, but for those who do, they're given a paper straw to enjoy their drink.

"Most people don't care and don't notice," Bernardo says. "It just takes time for us to educate people."

He says The Commodore started making strides a few years ago when one of the servers was interested in reducing her own carbon footprint. Being environmentally-friendly while being cost-effective has always been important to Bernardo, who points out the company has plastic bags made from recycled plastic, and a shared recycling bin and garbage bin with three other companies in the area.

The chef at The Commodore also takes food waste home to compost in his garden.

Christopher Monteleone is the co-owner of The Commodore in downtown Kamloops, which has been doing its part to reduce its carbon footprint.

(ASHLEY LEGASSIC - REPORTER / iNFOnews.ca)

Bernardo says in time, he's sure the cost-effective part of being environmentally friendly will come down as more people jump on board. He points out that the Noble Pig downtown was one of the first businesses in the city to ditch plastic straws.

"We're just trying to do whatever we possibly can," Bernardo says. "We're open to always doing more."

It's a sentiment that's echoed by the owner of Caffe Motivo and president of the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association, Mike O'Reilly. Owning a coffee shop means selling a lot of paper cups with plastic lining and lids, but that's something O'Reilly is trying to get away from.

He says the first thing you see when you walk into Caffe Motivo on Victoria Street are "for here" coffee mugs, already reducing some of that plastic waste. 

"We try to empower our customers to reduce their footprint as well," he says.

They do this by offering discounts on coffee if you bring in your own cup, and a larger discount if you purchase a travel cup from the store. They're not your typical travel mugs, O'Reilly says, pointing out the company brought them in strictly to replace paper cups.

The cups come in all different designs, whether it's Star Wars characters or summer design patterns. 

Food waste is usually one of the biggest issues for food establishments, but O'Reilly says they have very little food waste, mostly just what people bought but haven't finished eating. One of the reasons for this is because Caffe Motivo donates left over food at the end of the day to New Life Mission.

Caffe Motivo has also jumped on the paper straw train along with other businesses in the downtown core, but he says he would like to see a city-wide commercial recycling program, which he says would be a "game changer."

"I think (reducing waste) should be important to everybody," O'Reilly says. "Everybody has to do a little for their part."

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