The infamous takeaway coffee cup is a billion-dollar business for some, trash on beaches for others. In the UK alone, a whopping 2.5 bn cups are used and thrown away each year. A new suggestion to limit disposable cup use is the introduction of a deposit-based system. In a nutshell, this would require coffee drinkers to carry around their own rigid plastic cup in case they feel the sudden urge for liquid caffeine.

But would that not be a step in the wrong direction, fostering speediness in a world that already has to be lived in high gear? Look to the Italians, proof that fast coffee does not have to come at the price of sacrificing a sophisticated ceramic coffee cup, or creating plastic litter. The whole process of entering the bar, ordering a shot of coffee, drinking it while standing and finally wishing the barista "buona giornata" can be done in under three minutes. No deposit necessary!