KeepCup

"The KeepCup has been a labour of love so we are just thrilled that people have adopted and used the KeepCup and spread the word right around the world. Well done everyone!"

In 1998 my brother and I started Bluebag cafes in Melbourne, Australia – selling fresh sandwiches, salads and of course coffee, in a takeaway format. In doing so we became increasingly concerned of the contribution of our business model to landfill - convenience at too high an environmental cost. We looked at refilling juice bottles, selling salad containers to be filled, but it was the disposable coffee cup that was most conspicuous and ubiquitous piece of disposable packaging.

We tried to find a suitable reusable cup for resale – but they were bulky, ugly, didn’t fit under the machines, came in irregular sizes – we toyed with the idea of making our own – the costs were prohibitive and we always returned to the question – will people wash their cup?

The resolution came in 2007. Each morning and evening I would give my daughter a warm milk in a sippy cup – at work I would have a takeaway coffee each morning and afternoon. The thought of giving my daughter her milk in a disposable cup seemed barbaric – so why was it ok for me? It was then I realised that it was not will people wash their cup – we have to, we have no choice. The time had come.

In October 2007 we engaged Cobalt Niche industrial design to bring our vision to life. In June 2009 we saw the first KeepCups roll off the production line. When we launched the KeepCup at a Design Market in Melbourne the response was overwhelming, some of the repeated and memorable comments were

"I love them and I don't even know what they are for!"

"I've been thinking about this"

"Thank goodness someone has done something about this problem"

"Well done!"

I see daily and growing evidence of peoples’ readiness to make changes to our daily habits to make our world a better place. Better & Better.

Abigail Forsyth

Jamie Forsyth