This is Cupy, Australia's first collapsible, barista sized, reusable coffee cup. I wanted to introduce the Cupy and explain why we chose it for the store, as it's not recyclable at end of life.

Please indulge my long post, as I am expecting some push back about having silicone coffee cups in our store and I wanted to explain why I think they're so important.

I recently attended the Naturally Good Expo. The thing that floored me was not only the bottled water being handed out at the door (I rejected the one offered to me as I always carry my own water bottle - have done for years), but the extremely large number of people working in the natural industry who had bought their coffee in a throw away cup, and it was AFTER the War On Waste had aired. I saw only a handful (literally less than 5) people carrying around a Keep Cup or other reusables. I then saw them still carrying them empty about 4 hours later. One was someone I actually know and he made a joke about how it was still holding the thing hour slater. It made me wonder how many disposables that day would have been avoided if these people had a cup they could put in their back pocket when they were done. Cupy is that product.

Selling eco-friendly, pure glass or stainless steel products to our customer base is easy. You're all eco-savvy and know your stuff. You know you want a glass water bottle for the clean and pure drinking water. You already own a top of the line water filter jug to fill it with and you have a bento box that you pack your lunch in already. You know exactly what you want, and if you don't already own it, chances are we have it in our store already. This cup may not be for you, and that's ok too. The amount of products we sell to stop single use is just staggering and makes us so happy to see them out in the world. The real challenge for us now is convincing someone who doesn't care to make a small change. This product is for them.

I have had more than one conversation with customers saying that they'd love their husband, boyfriend, partner, daughter, dad, etc. to use a reusable coffee cup, but they refuse to carry one around with them all day. Four weeks before I found the Cupy, I literally had someone ask me if we had a collapsible coffee cup. We had seen it in lunch boxes (which we have never stocked because I didn't think they were necessary and I was never happy with the quality of the lids) and I've seen it in water bowls for dogs while you're walking, but never in a coffee cup.

If you love your Keep Cup, great. I love mine. I have a glass one. Lots of people carry plastic ones too. The Cupy is for those 'reluctant' re-users who for whatever reason, don't want to carry the empty with them all day. I can fit Cupy in my back pocket when it's flat. It's just 2.5cm tall. They're super durable with a leakproof lid and we gave this one a really hefty test drive shaking it about and squeezing it and throwing it around for durability. When every other reusable we have would have smashed or had the lid break, this one came away without a scratch.

If these can stop single use cups for someone who's rough with things and/or someone who just will not carry around an empty cup all day, having this option for them is fantastic. If you would prefer plastic, glass or stainless steel, we have you covered there too.

If you got this far, I think you need to go and make yourself a cuppa now! Thanks for reading.