The Cost of You Coffee
A photographic and audio documentary about reusable coffee cups
Since 2018 I have worked in specialty coffee shops as a barista
In that time I’ve made a lot of drinks and a lot of take away ones at that.
I was tasked with choosing a topic to make a documentary about I knew I would want to do it about the coffee industry and I wanted to talk about the most visible environmental issue of the coffee industry.
What I want to show with my documentary
- The effects on the environment
- Ways shops can reduce their cup waste
- The struggle to be an environmentally friendly coffee shop
One article that I looked into when researching my documentary was “Why Britain’s 2.5 billion paper coffee cups are an eco disaster”
This is the header image, and it is designed to show how the use of single-use paper cups outnumbers the use of reusable cups. The cups are in a three-by-three grid to mirror the aspect ratio of the image and enhance this aspect.
The first image shows a coffee shop that is also a roastery, this is to start the story of the viewer in walking up to the counter of the coffee shop and ordering your drink. The image shows a wider angle of the shop to give as much context as possible.
The second image shows two drinks next to each other. One in a single use cup and one in a reusable cup, symbolising the two choices that a person can make when purchasing a takeaway drink. The photo is taken on a table that is visible in the first image leading the viewer through the story in the shop.
Image three shows two subjects who are drinking the two drinks that were previously pictures in an outside setting. This is to show the evolution of the story with people going out getting a coffee to takeaway and a walk with someone.
The fourth image shows the woman from the previous image simply disposing of her single-use cup into a bin on the street. Showing that the woman is adding to the waste that is cause by single-use coffee cups causing an environmental issue.
The final picture shows the man from the third picture putting his reusable cup into a bag that he brought with him. This shows the alternate decision people can make when they decide to get takeaway drinks that will be beneficial environmentally.
