Castle Catering collected the Hampshire County Council department Smarter Working Green award on behalf of HC3S. This is for the work we have done on plastic reduction, particularly at EII Court in Winchester.

In 2019, 24.6% of drinks sold in our coffee shop were served in reusable cups. We offer a 15% discount on hot drinks purchased by customers using their own reusable cup to nudge them to sustainable purchasing. We even sell our own branded reusable travel mug.

We’re especially proud of our drive to eliminate plastic cups. We encourage staff to refill their own bottles with the fresh water we provide. Glass water bottles, rather than plastic, are now used for Members’ meetings. Our glass water bottles policy has saved an estimated 600 plastic bottles per month (7,200 per year) in the Castle Restaurant alone.

At EII Court, we will only buy drinks that use PET1 plastic, glass or cans, so that they are all recyclable.