New : KeepCup : The Reusable Cup

Lots of people ask us why we chose paper cups. They don’t realise most disposable paper cups are lined with polyethylene and have a polystyrene lid so there is enough material in 20 disposable cups and lids to make one small KeepCup.

Keepcup

Here is why :

Low embodied energy in manufacture.
The resources required to manufacture plastic are relatively low, this means that you only have to use it 15 times to break even with paper cups in terms of the energy manufacture and use.

Lightweight and unbreakable
For you to carry our product around it has to be lightweight, ergomonic and unbreakable.

Colourful
The ability to choose a unique, personal colourway for yourself increases the desirability of the KeepCup, and increases your likelihood of remembering and reusing.

Dishwasher safe : Makes cleaning easy.

Recyclable at end of life
The KeepCup is made from single component materials to facilitate recycling at end of life. Polypropylene is being targeted as a great material capable of being recycled into consumer goods. There are lots of clever people doing exciting things in this space.

Weight and freight
Being lightweight and stackable has a significant impact on the environmental costs of shipping and freight. The ability to ship components for local assembly also decreases the environmental impact of the KeepCup.

FACTS ABOUT DISPOSABLE CUPS

• International Paper estimates that annually in the UK over 29 billion disposable cups are discarded to landfill; that is, 75 disposable cups for every UK inhabitant.
• Annually 500 billion disposable cups are manufactured around the world; that’s about 75 disposable cups for every single person on the planet.
• Half of the plastic used in the world today is for single use items.
• On average, each disposable cup contains 5% of the raw materials involved in the process of making and delivering it.
• The 500 billion disposable cups we manufacture annually placed end to end could circumnavigate the earth 1,360 times.
• 4 billion trees or 35% of the total trees chopped down are used in paper industries on every continent.
• 1 tonne of paper consumes 98 tonnes of resources in manufacture.
• Globally, we go through about 300 million tonnes of paper each year. Most paper is made from virgin pulp.
  Very little recycled paper is used to make disposable cups due to health risk and contamination concerns.
• Because most disposable cups are coated with polyethylene, both composting and recycling of disposable cups is not common.
• 71% of the worlds paper supply comes from diminishing forests, not tree farms or the recycling bin.
• Consumer rubbish has increased tenfold over the twentieth century, from 92 to 1242 pounds of product waste per person per year. This means we discard approximately 14.4 times our body weight in waste annually.
• Taiwan discards 1.5 billion disposable cups annually. Landfill issues have given rise to new rules for establishments to give discounts to all reusable cups. The Taiwanese government has forecast a 30% reduction of disposable cup use annually, or 450 million cups.
• Disposable paper cups contain on average 5% polyurethane plastic.

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