Money-saving articles tell us to ditch the morning coffee entirely, but like most people, I love my 11am latte too much to give it up.

It riles me, however, that takeaway coffee cups are lined with polyethylene, making them hard to recycle. So difficult, in fact, that less than 1% of the 2.5 billion coffee cups used every year in the UK are recycled.

This shocking statistic made the slight inconvenience of carrying a reusable coffee cup in my bag seem negligible. I already owned an Ecoffee cup made from bamboo fibres, so it was time to overcome my laziness and actually use it.

Numerous coffee chains across the UK are on board with limiting the amount of takeaway cups they give out, with schemes in place to offer reduced prices for those who bring in their own cup. At Pret A Manger, where I usually head in the morning, you get a 50p discount for using your own cup. This meant I saved a respectable £10 over my four weeks of caffeine-glugging.

Other chains also offer reusable cup perks - Starbucks, Costa and Paul offer a 25p discount, Leon offers 30p off and you’ll get double loyalty stamps in Caffe Nero. Not too shabby.

Cost before: £49 (£2.45 for a latte every weekday)

Cost after: £39

Saving: £10

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