The KeepCup Story

When siblings Jamie and Abigail Forsyth started a café business in Melbourne in 1998, disposable cups were entering the public landscape; the signifier of a busy professional life and a vibrant independent coffee scene.

As the business grew, so did their concerns about the volume of packaging being consumed, particularly disposable cups; lined with polyethylene, they were non-recyclable.

In 2007, following unsuccessful trials of existing reusable cups, they decided to design and make their own – a barista standard reusable cup for people to enjoy better coffee on the go.

They took a huge gamble that usability, sustainable manufacturing practice and design aesthetics could drive behaviour change and make a difference to how people think about convenience culture.

The first KeepCups were sold to coffee-loving Melbournians nearly ten years ago at a small, underground design market. The reuse movement grew from there, with the support of the café and roaster community endorsing change.

The goal was always to kick start behaviour change, from discard to reuse – to deliver a positive global campaign that would change the status quo. KeepCup has grown from a solution to a problem, to define a product category.

Today, KeepCups are used in more than 65 countries around the world. KeepCup users divert millions of disposable cups from landfill every day, and through their actions inspire others to do the same.

For many of our customers, it has been the beginning of a journey to reduce the consequences of convenience behaviour.

For a while there, carrying a KeepCup was like being in a secret club; a nod to aspirational behaviour for the world. With this positive change established in the mainstream, we now have a greater responsibility to continue to change the sustainability conversation in word and deed.

You are a changemaker. The things you say and ways you live are charting the course for our future.

Thanks for being you. Let’s steer this thing somewhere wonderful.