About £10
May I please encourage you for 2017 to consider getting yourself a reusable coffee cup? Many of you probably already have one, but for those who don’t, or who have one but never remember to use it, shall we all, like, get together and have a go at using one next year?
I, like many, was appalled by news this year that takeaway coffee cups can’t be recycled and I am more acutely conscious each day of the importance of not contributing to landfill.
So I went in search of a good reusable coffee cup. I didn’t want anything heavy or massive – I don’t especially need my coffee to be kept the temperature of molten lava for 2 hours. I also wanted to buy at least two, so that one could be on the draining board and one could be left on the hall table to remind me to tuck it into my handbag in the morning – fully prepared for any coffee opportunity that presented itself as I went about my day.
And I came across this Keep Cup. I got the 6oz cup, which holds a restrained amount of flat white (about 150ml). I love the fact that it is so little and light and that its lid is not silicon, therefore doesn’t soak up every slightly yucky taste and smell going. It does make it a little bit more of a bugger to get the lid off, but this is a small price to pay for saving the planet.
I love the fact that my plan of buying two worked out and I now never leave the house in the morning without one somewhere about me. It feels efficient and streamlined and good.
You might need something with more of a thermal capacity, or one that holds more liquid or something. The details are not important, what’s important is that we all do this. Let’s make it as normal as taking your own bags to the supermarket.
Don’t worry, I won’t be on about MoonCups next. Or will I…?
Go for it on the Mooncup front. They are brilliant but I never tell anyone because it’s an embarrassing subject. But you on the other hand can get away with it. xxx
Yes to the moon cup!!!
I got a Cheeki cup a couple of years ago. More expensive but doesn’t leak at all and keeps your coffee hot. I use it everyday. Brilliant idea!
Coffee cup idea – yes! Moon cup idea – No no no no no no no and no.
Heard on the radio about possibly introducing a tax on these disposable cups, i.e. charging customers 5p extra for a cup with their coffee/tea, similar to the plastic bag charge which has worked. 👍
Thick question: do you just hand over your cup and ask them to fill it with coffee/tea/whatever? Does it have to be a certain size to fit their machines? And do you pay less for the coffee?
Sorry!
I bought one in Australia, at the coffee shop in the hospital where my dad was having chemo, because I was visiting there every single day for 3 weeks and they didn’t recycle their cups. They only had two sizes of coffee, small or large, and the Keep Cup fitted a small (just right for a skinny cappuccino). There was a 10c/cup discount if I used my Keep Cup. I washed it each night at home (they don’t go in dishwasher), but they coffee shop blew it out with boiling water from the machine as well, before they filled it.
I just hand it over and say “enough flat white to fill that please” and pay the same amount
Dare I ask what a moon cup is? Or should I just google it? Don’t want to get a fright!
ps Laura in my experience you just hand over your cup and say “please can I have it in here” – I think way, way back in the dark ages when I bought my Starbucks thermal mug they gave you a discount if you had your own refillable cup – but not sure if that’s still the case – or if they only ever offered a discount on their own mugs as opposed to ones bought elsewhere. Be interested to know if anyone has an up to date experience to share on that front.
Sue a moon cup is a reusable alternative to other sorts of sanitary ware during menstruation. and if that description doesn’t give you nightmares, nothing will
Mooncups are amazing. I was reluctant for years, despite hearing the rave reviews. It was just too icky to contemplate. Finally thought, screw it, may aswell. I’ve given birth three times and it doesn’t get ickier than that. It’s changed a 1/4 of my life. Go for it.
Reusable cup…definitely. I’m never on the school run without one.
I really like my Keep Cup, but don’t like that it can’t go in dishwasher. Have you managed to deal with the band around the middle that holds a bit of water underneath it, no matter how dry you think you’ve gotten it? Not sure how hygienic that is.
Thanks for writing about this Esther. It is horrifying to think how many coffee cups go to landfill every day. I have two Keep Cups both bought while living in Sydney. It’s pretty normal to have them there. All the coffee shops accept them – and will often give a discount for using them. The big coffee chains don’t have the grip there that they do here though. Costa et al need to get on board – they need to start selling reusable cups and giving a discount for using them. (Keep Cup also do quite nice glass/cork version which I bought for the other half last year. It’s a topic of much conversation in his office in Egham).
Is it just me who’s getting confused about whether your readers are commentating about reusable coffee cups or other cups?
it’s just CUPS generally on this thread babez
Moon cups also save the planet as other sanitary ware is not recyclable and is killing much marine life. Definitely go for moon cups! Also known as diva cups 😀
I had a keep cup but found that after a few months the plastic started to leach into whatever I put in it, making my coffee taste vile. I’ve tried ceramic ones – too hot to pick up, no idea how that’s supposed to work – and was wondering if anyone had any other alternatives? A keep cup is better than paper cups clearly, but if I’m having to chuck that in landfill every few months it seems a bit self defeating…
On another note: I really need a nice quality pair of trousers (not Topshop/H&M etc, but not extraordinarily expensive): where does one go for this sort of purchase? Especially if one is petite in stature?
&OtherStories – but you have to go into a store, you can’t order trousers online because you will have to try a few pairs on
Banana Republic for petite trousers! Especially their Sloan ones. I am 5ft 1 and love the quality of their petite stuff.
Thanks Mrs Green for this very useful tip
I’m not a take-away coffee drinker so can’t add much on the front… But I’d add a big yes to the moon cup (I bought a similar one and am excited (?) to test it out! Also a big yes to having two of certain things. I have two hands free for my mobile phone, 1 in the car and 1 in the house and it’s one less thing I need to remember to pack when I’m heading out…
Nikki my strict protestant upbringing forbade me for years from buying duplicates but I see now it’s just good sense
Esther, you might already know this, it’s not relevant to this post, but apparently Tom Hardy is doing CBeebies bedtime story on hogmanay. I don’t get the Tom Hardy thing, but thought since you’re a fan you’d be interested. Assuming it’s even true. Elaine x
I have a lovely Keep Cup which is glass, with a cork band around the middle. It’s about a year old now, always comes up like new when cleaned and doesn’t retain the pong of coffees past as I have found plastic does. Definitely recommend them. Their standard 6oz size I think is exactly the same ml as a Tall from Starbucks, or regular elsewhere, so you can just say that when you order. And you get 25p off, or double stamps at Nero!