Plastic Free Wānaka advocates recently uncovered 403 single-use cups in one morning during a bin inspection alongside Bullock Creek.
The audit was done to shine a light on the sheer volume of waste generated in just a few hours, Plastic Free Wānaka ambassador Emma Ioannau said.
"This isn’t just about counting cups — it’s about making people aware of the waste we generate and empowering them to be part of the solution.
"Small actions like sitting in at a cafe, bringing your own cup, or using a mug library can have a huge impact over time," Ms Ioannau said.
The single-use cup (SUCfree) Wānaka campaign begun in 2019, with many cafes choosing to stop using disposable cups and promoting reusable ones.
She said an estimated 800,000 cups ended up in Wānaka’s landfill each year so there was still a lot more work to be done.
Since the SUCfree cup campaign began in 2019, 63% of residents chose to sit, BYO or borrow, according to the Wastebusters Resourceful Communities Survey 2023.
Eleven Wānaka outlets are now 100% SUCfree, with a further 19 offering cup lending schemes.
Ms Ioannau said disposable coffee cups might seem recyclable, but most were lined with plastic, making them difficult to process.
New Zealand alone is estimated to send 295 million coffee cups to landfill annually.
Alongside the audit, an education stall provided interactive activities, competitions, and practical solutions for locals and visitors to adopt the "Sit, BYO, or Borrow" ethos.
The collected cups were used to show a visual representation of how quickly single-use waste accumulates, with the use of Tāne the eel, a sculpture provided by WAO Aotearoa.
There are plans for a district-wide hui in the next few months to keep the conversation going and develop the next steps for the campaign.
