I'm definitely a bit of a greenie at heart but - like many of us I think - I need the eco-friendly options to be as efficient and useful as the non-environmentally friendly alternatives. On this blog, I've already had the opportunity to test out a wide range of eco-friendly cleaning products and organic beauty products and I've been consistently impressed at how well they measure up to the un-green products.
I was therefore keen to try out a KeepCup, described by the manufacturers as "an innovative, Australian designed, re-useable cup, which allows you to do your bit for the environment every day". It's apparently the world's first barista standard reuseable cup, which is basically just a posh way of saying that it is the standard size to fit commercial coffee machines. It is the same size as the disposable paper cups so that the pre-programmed doses of coffee, milk and water will be correctly balanced - basically, you just use it in place of a throwaway paper cup. It comes in three different sizes (8oz, 12oz and 16oz) so you should find a KeepCup adapted to the coffee machine you use most often.
As the makers of KeepCup explain, "Many of us still assume that disposable cups are environmentally friendly, thinking they are paper. owever, we forget that disposable cups are sprayed with a plastic resin called polyethylene, which renders them both non-biodegradable and, in most cases, non-recyclable. Every year it is estimated that worldwide disposable paper cups alone account for up to 4.5 million tonnes of landfill, 54 million felled trees and 340 million joules of energy." Just for using paper cups ! That's certainly enough to convince me that switching over to a KeepCup is a very good idea - but it will only work if huge numbers of coffee (and other hot beverage)-drinkers do the same.
The KeepCup itself is lovely and sturdy - it avoids that horrible moment when your cup of scalding hot coffee starts folding in on itself and you're sure you'll end up with it all over your lap or hand. It's the perfect size for your hand to comfortably hold and the rubber band means it doesn't slip about in your hand, as well as providing insulation from the heat so you don't burn your fingers carrying extremely hot drinks to your table.
As the picture above shows, it comes in a wide variety of colours and can be personalised in the colour combination of your choice as all four elements are totally interchangeable. The KeepCup is BPA-free, non toxic, reuseable, recyclable, dishwasher-safe, microwave-safe, stackable, light-weight, splash-proof and fits into car cup holders. Phew ! Is there anything they haven't thought of ?!
These days, most supermarkets have adopted the "bag for life" shopping bags, thereby hugely reducing the number of bags in landfill and also the resources wasted to make them, so it would great for big companies who have coffee machines to do the same thing for their coffee cups. In the mean-time, each individual - especially those who buy a lot of takeaway coffees - can do their bit by buying and reusing a KeepCup. The manufacturers' hope is for "the KeepCup to be adopted by the majority of coffee drinkers, so we can eradicate some of the waste which is suffocating our planet". I'm prepared to do my bit to help them achieve this dream - especially when the KeepCup is so much better than the traditional disposable paper cups that it replaces.
star rating : 4.5/5
RRP : £8 for 8oz, £9 for 12oz, £10 for 16oz
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But it's made of new plastic! How is that eco-friendly or innovative?! Make a re-usable cup out of recycled materials and reduce waste, don't create more stuff for this planet to hold.
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