CSUSM is one of 16 universities that is participating in Kill the Cup, a waste reduction campaign that encourages the use of reusable coffee cups. The event takes place from Oct. 5 through Oct. 30.

The Kill the Cup campaign promotes environmental change in an engaging manner by constructing it as a competition between universities. The Kill the Cup organization will reward the school who has the highest percent of drinks sold in reusable cups with a grant to fund sustainability projects on campus.

According to Alex Caratti, president of the Kill the Cup campaign, if awarded this grant, the Sustainability Club plans to open a student store that serves the purpose of recycling and repurposing items, thus allowing students to buy things they need at a reduced cost.

Since the first annual Kill the Cup competition in 2014, the number of participating universities has nearly doubled.

“Everything that we do, essentially everything, has some impact on the environment, and Kill the Cup brings attention to one of the easiest and most direct ways that we can lessen our impact on the environment by switching from something that we throw away daily or even multiple times a day, if people drink multiple cups of coffee, to something reusable and that can make a big impact,” said Caratti. “And the idea behind Kill the Cup is just, for this month, to teach people and try to incentivize them to make the switch and hopefully it sticks.”

In addition to a grant for the school, individuals who partake in the event have the opportunity to win a variety of prizes. There are two ways for participants to win — by posting a ‘selfie’ with a reusable cup on Instagram and the hashtag #killthecupcsusm or by downloading the Kill the Cup app using a campus email address and uploading ‘selfies’ to the app. Prizes include two $25 gift card giveaways every week, one CSUSM grand prize of a $65 Jansport backpack and a national grand prize of an Apple iPad.

At CSUSM, there are four stores that are involved with the campaign: Jazzman’s Café, the convenience store, Starbucks Coffee and Campus Coffee. With a reusable cup, Jazzman’s Café and the convenience store will give consumers 20 cents off, Starbucks will give 15 cents off and Coffee Cart customers will receive a large for the price of a small.