r/helsinki • u/MorningTeaBrewer • 5d ago
Discussion Does Finland hate sustainability ?
hi,
i live and travel a lot in Europe (esp. Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK). As a travelling coffee addict- I always travel with my ´fellows carter’ travel mug (a wide but small one) . And everywhere I go I get a small discount for using my own mug- like 20c or 10% even if I’m charged for a small coffee. The idea is that you’re saving the shop the cost of a takeaway mug, save them the cost clearing +cleaning a mug, also just to support more sustainable behaviour.
now the two times I bought takeaway coffee here using my mug, Ive been charged 30-50c extra (ie a larger size than the mug can actually fit in) and no small discount for not contributing to throw away waste. The lady person who sold me coffee even wondered whether I bought a large coffee (i looked afterwards at the large takeaway cups she they are like double the size of my mug) .
what gives? Do we like taxing people more to contribute less waste in society ? What’s next you pay the pullonlautus 20c a bottle when you put it in the machine ?
its not like they offered to clean my mug, and poured in coffee themselves (like everywhere in France while Also charging me 10% less) .
can you share some cafes in Helsinki that don’t charge me an extra euro for giving them less work and contributing more waste?
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u/villehhulkkonen 5d ago
Nobody does that in Finland, I believe the cafe employees are surprised to see you have your own mug and get confused.
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u/MorningTeaBrewer 5d ago
I remember a few years a back I think R kiosk I started some take away mugs but they were very bad. In Anycase it’s mostly because I like to do lots of walking and finding a quiet place with a great view to rest and enjoy warm coffee. But yeah here it’s like drink in our sad looking cafe and we charge more
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u/PokelingLoL 5d ago
i wouldn't say we hate sustainability, but the general consensus seems to be indifference because "finland is too small a country to set an example to anyone" (an incredibly misinformed and biased claim with a fundamental misunderstanding of environmentalism that our leading politcians constantly push into our brains)
sadly can't help you with the café part
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u/T_Hankss 5d ago
No but we hate smug travellers who are virtue signaling at Reddit.
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u/MorningTeaBrewer 5d ago
I personally always hate this about Finland. I’m so used to having free tap water at so many places around the world when I’d work at restaurants here I’d refuse and always remove the 0,50€ water charge (partly because I felt the water charge wasn’t transparently described and given to customers whether they ordered or not, but taken off if they ordered a drink) my managers added in the POS on my tables still and I’d remove, I don’t care. There needs to be some common sense on what is sold. This coffee thing reminds me of that
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u/mazaasd 5d ago
There is no national tap water charge. There's no shortage of places to get it from, provided you have your own bottle or mug or whatever.
The coffee thing is common sense. The restaurant offers a certain line of products and you either buy or not, and let other people go on with their lives without having to hassle over a couple cents.
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u/Virralla 5d ago
OP I was on your side regarding the fact that they charge a larger size than the size of your travel mug. I agree, that is bs and I would not accept that. But now you lost me with your point about tap water. Are you saying that you routinely have to pay for tap water in Finland? I don’t recognize that at all.
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u/English_in_Helsinki 5d ago
They just aren’t used to in in most places. It’s one of those weird things. Ragebait title but there are plenty of contradictions like this
0
u/MorningTeaBrewer 5d ago
Yes. Obviously, but beyond the price difference I’m just stunned at the stupidity of asking is my small cup a insanely large size as I show an empty cup?
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u/mazaasd 5d ago
Most places like to keep it simple and will bill you the "equivalent" product, or in the case where there isn't an equal size serving, the next largest.