Choosing to stop plastic usage and go reusable was easy-peasy. Training my family to adopt a no-plastic lifestyle was and is still hella hard.
It took me months before I could convince Jayson to stop using plastic bags for our weekly groceries, and even then we’re still not 100% plastic-free. If I don’t have any of my canvas totes or reusable bags at hand, we’d end up coming home with plastic bags filled with fruit, snacks, or food for dinner.
One of my bigger challenges was getting Jayson to stop using coffee cups. 7-11 and Starbucks are his favorite stops for a coffee fix, and the number of plastic caps that end up in our trash always drives me nuts.
I eventually got myself a reusable Starbucks coffee mug, and convinced him to use it whenever we went to the coffee shop for our usual White Chocolate Mocha x Cafe Mocha combo. He was fine with it at first, but when the coffee started spilling all over his shirt and our car, he did what he could to avoid using it. The habit just didn’t build itself, and he’d come home with those annoying red and black coffee cups after taking the kids to school or leaving the house for an errand.
One night, I saw that one of my favorite local brands was running a promo/collab with Cupping Initiative, the official Philippine distributor of the KeepCup.
It’s a “barista standard” reusable cup made and designed in Australia to encourage people to enjoy their coffee AND make an impact. Founded by Abigail Forsyth and her brother, Jamie, they banded together to create a reusable cup that was sustainably made, designed well, and that empowered coffee lovers to express their personalities through cup and color choices.
Almost four years later, with a great deal of help from design professionals, we have kick started a behavioral change in Melbourne that is spreading across the world. People purchase KeepCups because they love the way they look and feel, and continue doing so because they form a positive habit. For many of our customers it has been the beginning of a journey to reduce the consequences of convenience behavior. Feel good. Do good.
Abigail Forsyth, Managing Director of KeepCup
And this positive habit is what I want for myself and for Jayson. Luckily, different kinds of KeepCups are sold through this distributor, so I spent the next 3-4 months browsing through their feed, deciding on which size to go for (i.e. 8oz, 12oz, 16oz) and which type of KeepCup to get (e.g. Original, Clear, Brew, Brew-Cork edition, and LongPlay).
The KeepCup is made entirely of sustainable materials. They’re:
- Fully recyclable – stable and widely recycled globally
- Stackable – reducing freight requirements and carbon footprint
- Fit for purpose – heat resistant, lightweight, unbreakable
- Provides low embodied energy manufacturing capabilities
- Independently tested to ensure it is BPA and BPS free
If you’d like to learn more about the brand’s material choices, this article has all the info you need.
When the time was right (a.k.a. I had moolah to spend), I contacted Cupping Initiative to inquire about availability, as well as more information about the differences between these cups. For instance, what is the difference between the KeepCup Original and Clear series and the KeepCup LongPlay? And since it’s a double-wall coffee cup, how heavy is the LongPlay anyway?
KeepCup Original and Original Clear are made of plastic material, while KeepCup Brew, Cork, and LongPlay are made of toughened soda lime glass so they’re more durable and offer that premium coffee experience. The KeepCup LongPlay gets an additional touch of love with a double wall—a clear Tritan plastic booster to “to increase durability, protect touch, and help keep your drink better for longer.”
In terms of weight, Cupping Initiative confirmed that KeepCups weigh around 61 grams, which means they’re lightweight and easy to bring around. Even the extra layer on the LongPlay doesn’t add to it.
I wanted to go with a LongPlay since it shared the same price as the KeepCup Brew Cork edition, but all of the colors I wanted were sold out. Jayson and I ended up ordering two 16oz KeepCup Brew-Cork cups in Saffron and Rock Salt. Each cost PhP 1,400 and shipping to Cagayan de Oro city is an extra PhP 150.
The Cork edition is a single wall reusable coffee cup. Besides the usual KeepCup features, it’s fitted with sustainably sourced natural cork as a thermal band, so it jives well with our preference for hot drinks. You can however still use it for cold beverages.
As soon as the package arrived, we had our KeepCups washed and ready for tonight’s coffee session.
What blew Jayson away wasn’t the color or the cork handle, but how delightful his coffee drinking experience was. The drinking hole was large yet not a single drop of coffee spilled onto his shirt as he drank. The splash-proof seal kept it from spilling all over the car as we drove home, and the plug fitted on top of the cup covers the mouthpiece so well when we weren’t drinking.
In short, we both love the KeepCup and attest to its quality and design. The only downside would be how hot the cup can be when you fill your KeepCup up, and that’s to be expected with a cup made of glass. The cork band certainly helps in this aspect.
The most valuable takeaway is that we’ve stopped polluting our city and the environment with disposable coffee cups and plastic coffee caps. Considering how many cups of coffee we have each week, this is a step forward to making a difference and encouraging our own children to reuse and recycle.
If you’re in the Philippines and want to join the #reuserevolution too, DO IT. And do so with a KeepCup. I mean, the fact that it can convert someone as rigid and stubborn as my husband proves it’s well worth the investment.
The KeepCup is sold through Cupping Initiative here in the Philippines. Go follow them on Instagram and Facebook to inquire, or to just ogle at their pretty KeepCup snapshots. ?
Resources:
- KeepCup main website (Australia + Philippines)
- KeepCup Care information
- ‘Stupidest idea ever’: KeepCup founder Abigail Forsyth on how the reusable cup nearly didn’t happen via ABC News
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