Over 1.5 billion coffee cups are thrown out each year in Australia alone. 1.5 BILLION! Holy hell that’s a lot a cup.

Green is Gold is a great little project happening in Barrack st around the corner from work at the moment, one of the winning proposals of this year’s Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Street Works initiative that has become a sustainable installation appearing around Sydney this Summer.

Essentially GIG is used coffee cups filled with soil and a special seed sleeve, left to sprout on the sidewalk display. Sweet.

It’s such a pleasant sight to see in the CBD - what’s otherwise rubbish transformed into greenery while spreading the message of making something out of nothing.

And if you’re keen to cut down your cup waste without cutting the coffee… then get a Keep Cup - the cute, reusable, barrista quality cup available in a tonne of colours.

About Ingrid Schroder

A Sydneyside corporate graphic designer, photographer & yoga teacher - I find myself turning to nature for guaranteed revival from the crazy pace of city life - be it digging in my garden, capturing natural beauty through a lens, floating in the ocean, practicing yoga or out exploring this incredible planet we all call home. Follow me on twitter @Cohabitaire