Reusable cups unveiled for Plaza Midwood social district

CHARLOTTE — The Plaza Midwood Merchants Association just unveiled the new reusable cups for its social district.

Charlotte’s first social district will be in Plaza Midwood. It will stretch along Central Avenue, from Louise Avenue to Morningside Drive. It was approved at the end of October.

Once the district officially launches, people will be able to sip and stroll with alcoholic drinks from ABC-approved establishments.

According to Phillip Gussman with the Plaza Midwood Merchants Association, the reusable cups were a key part in getting the district off the ground.

“Our stainless steel cup solution is really one of the drivers of answering the question of ‘Isn’t this gonna make more trash?’” he said.

At the same time, he said the reusable cups required a fair amount of logistical planning to satisfy the regulations surrounding social districts without adding too many extra steps for the vendors and customers to follow.

Every participating vendor in the social district will sell the cups with a sticker denoting where the drink came from. Then customers can walk around the social district with the drinks and trade out the cups if they want another drink.

“You’ll be able to take this cup clean or dirty to any establishment and ask for a new one and they’ll be able to swap one out for you and get you a new one,” Gussman said.

At the end of the night, businesses will offer a $2 refund for anyone who wants to turn the cup back in, otherwise, customers can take empty cups home and bring them back the next time they visit the social district.

The merchants association worked with the Innovation Barn to develop and procure the stainless steel cups in an effort to reduce litter in the neighborhood, while also promoting sustainability. The Innovation Barn will also allow anyone to trade in any unwanted cups for $1 so they can go back to the vendors.

“They are meant to be reused and reused and reused,” Amy Aussieker, the executive director of Envision Charlotte, said. “These are sturdy, nice cups so we want to start a trend so that people get rid of their single use plastic cups.”

So far, only one other social district in North Carolina, Sylva in Jackson County, is using reusable cups.

Aussieker hopes other districts take Charlotte’s lead, and that the city streamlines the process so that any other neighborhoods considering a social district can use the cups as well.

“We need to stop as much plastic going to the landfill as possible,” she said. “If we can keep every social district from having a whole bunch of single use plastic cups, you add that every weekend or every event over time, it is significant savings.”

Gussman expects there to be a small learning curve for the vendors, customers and the neighborhood, but he said businesses are looking forward to getting the district off the ground after more than a year and a half of planning.

“We hope it helps create a better environment for all our communities to do well,” he said.

The merchants association has already marked the boundaries of the Plaza Midwood Social District with signs.

Right now, there’s no official start date for the social district, but the neighborhood is planning for early March.

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