Switching to reuse is a journey that requires planning. Staying across industry sustainability trends and what other clubs are doing will help guide you. Start by asking (and answering): • Why start the journey now? Why is it important to your club? • What is your mandate? (Has the Board decided this? Your community asked for it? etc.) • What has your club already done to reduce plastic? • Do you have a sustainability policy?  • If so, does it have a section that talks about single-use plastics? • What do your patrons think about sustainability? • Do you currently survey them about this? If you don’t, this is a great place to start. We’ve developed a Survey Template to help. • Who do you need to work with to plan, procure, and roll-out reusables?

How you implement your reusables project will depend on your access to infrastructure and your ability to upgrade facilities. There is a reusable solution for every situation. The initiative you select will depend on: • Your access to electricity. Facilities like dishwashers require access to electricity, sometimes three phase. If you are unable to accommodate this, a lower tech solution, like handwashing, could be more suitable. • Access to fresh water. Similarly, fresh water is required for both wash-up and water refill stations. There are a range of options available for clubs with limited access to fresh water and/or taps, such as portable water stations. • Storage capacity. Do you have space available to store clean reusable cups and/or foodware? Other things to consider is ensuring any storage areas are able to withstand any conditions specific to your experience/facility, for example - humidity and adverse weather conditions.

Going plastic free is a team effort - you don’t have to do it alone! Having the right people involved will be key to your success. There are many different roles and responsibilities required when implementing reusables. At a minimum, aim to have have a representative responsible for each of the following roles on your project committee: • Management or team committee • Head office (where applicable) • Catering/food and beverage (where applicable) • Training and/or HR (where applicable) • Procurement and finance • Cleaning and waste management (where applicable) • Maintenance and facilities • Communications and marketing • Sustainability (where applicable)

Once you have a committee, you can hold an initial planning meeting. This meeting is where you kick-off your reusable project; explore initial ideas, agree high-level goals and targets, and assign roles and responsibilities. To assist with discussion topics see the Planning Meeting Checklist. After your initial planning meeting you will have the basis for your Action Plan. This document will guide you through your program and keep you on track. Ideally hold regular meetings as you progress through your reusable switches. Depending on how your project goes, you may need to adjust your timelines, strategy and plan - this is to be expected. Stay flexible and keep focused on your goal.

Budget How much money do you have to put towards purchasing reusable cups and foodware?  To estimate your budget, you will need to consider things like: • Quality of the reusable items. Stainless steel, glass and ceramic items are higher quality but cost more than reusable plastic. • How many reusable items you need. • The size of the reusable items you need. • The cost of wash-up facilities that are the correct size for your business and number of reusable items you will get through on a daily basis. • If you’re going to be hiring reusables or commercial wash-up facilities, the ongoing cost involved with this. • Wages for any additional staff you need to hire (where applicable). • Savings from not ordering/buying/storing/using disposable items. • Waste management savings from less disposable packaging in your rubbish bins. Be sure to document and track this in your Action Plan. Timeline Planning reusable switches may take 6-12 months when you factor in research, planning, procurement, and training. You will want to allow as much time as possible.

Now that you have a clear Action Plan, it’s time to get the approvals applicable to your organisation. Once you have approval you can move on to Action 2 - Data Collection.