A first-of-its-kind reusable cup program just launched in Toronto, and it could very well be the solution to the immense waste created by single-use coffee cups. 

Reego, Toronto's first reusable take-out cup and lid program, is currently piloting in four Toronto neighbourhoods (Baby Point, Junction Triangle, The Junction, and Roncesvalles) with 10 participating coffee shop locations. 

So here's how it works. 

When you go into any participating coffee shop and order your beverage, you request Reego and put down a $5 deposit for your cup and lid. 

When you finish your drink, you can return your resuable cup at any participating business. Whether you want to swap the cup for another that has been washed and sanitized or simply receive your $5 back is totally up to you. 

According to Reego, if just 1 per cent of Toronto's takeout coffees were served in their reusable cups instead of single-use disposables, over 7 million disposable cup and lids would be spared from landfills and oceans.

"We need to dismiss the whole concept of waste and think about how we can reuse things instead! Every litre of water can be re-used; or in our case, every coffee cup can be reused by someone else," a caption for one of Reego's Instagram posts states.

"Ultimately it’s about thinking in a completely different way to find a new way that works, for the world as a whole. This requires us to see value in every material that we use, and realise that using a plastic cup one time and tossing it simply moves it somewhere else."

The program is only in its pilot phase, but already Alcove Coffee, Hale Coffee, Hounslow's House, Lourdes Coffee, Wallace Espresso (two locations), UB Social Cafe & General Store, Golden Gecko Coffee, Extra Butter Coffee and Fantail Bakery+Cafe have agreed to participate. 

"By simply switching to our cups, Torontonians will prevent hundreds of millions of plastic pieces from going to the landfill," they wrote.

"Welcome to a better world."