The KeepCup is here!

Filed in Blog, Product reviews, Videos by on March 15, 2010 6 Comments
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The Keepcup from Ecoutlet; banish disposable coffee cups for ever

The Keepcup from ECOutlet; banish disposable coffee cups for ever

Paul from ECOutlet sent me a parcel this week containing a cup and a snake. I sounds a bit like I was about to be a performing jester at Little miss Green’s Birthday party doesn’t it!?

Well actually the snake is a fantastic draught excluder, which will come in really handy at Chez Green. We have a wonderful wood burner and an open fire, but a lot of the work gets undone by the gale force winds blowing through our house. Our pet snake will help keep us cosy. What I love about the snake is it is made from vintage fabric with buckwheat husks inside. This means he is biodegradable and because it’s heavier than a draught excluder stuffed with fabric it hugs the door, and excludes more draughts.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, 20% of heat loss in the average home is through ventilation and draughts, so let’s see if we can knock a bit off our heating bill while reducing our carbon footprint.

The second item was the ‘Keepcup’ which means you can indulge in your favourite takeout beverage and say goodbye to disposable coffee cups forever. KeepCup is the first barista-standard reusable coffee cup (Did you like that Barista-standard bit? I loved writing that and felt very posh) which fits directly under the espresso machine. It’s a snip at £8.99 and if you go to Starbucks on your way to work to use your KeepCup and take advantage of your 25p discount, this landfill friendly number will pay for itself in a month or so.

Paul surpassed himself on his packaging too. My order was sent in a used cardboard box and stuffed with newspaper. Every customer is sent a label to encourage them to reuse the packaging and you’re sent full details of the type(s) of packaging used.

If you like the look of my snazzy reusable KeepCup, keep coming back to the site; we’ll be running a giveaway with Paul soon to win 1 of 5 of his Keepcups.

We’ve signed up for Paul’s new affiliate scheme, which means if you buy his eco friendly goods by clicking through our site, we get a little commission. It doesn’t cost you any more and your shopping experience will be exactly the same as if you’d gone straight to his site. So why not check out his lovely range of recycled gifts and all his other eco friendly beauties? He stocks wind up bicycle lights so you can say goodbye to batteries forever, reusable sandwich wrappers so you can kiss clingfilm farewell. He sells cardboard toys for little eco warriors and even a set of lovely balls for your pants so you no longer have laundry packaging (technically known as eco balls).

They say a picture paints a thousand words, so I wonder how many a short You Tube video of me unpacking my goodies is worth.  You’ll have to excuse my laughter at the beginning, Mr Green was acting like a child behind the camera as usual :

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAV9EGijnNI

About the Author ()

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

Comments (6)

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  1. Stephanie says:

    We use these keep cups here in Melbourne, Australia . I live in the coffee capital of the world I think, with lots of Italian baristas and fine coffee. I got mine free last Saturday at a Kite Festival which had a sustainability section. I was able to answer their “quiz” and claimed the keep cup as my prize. Its very handy as you can use it in the car as the top locks. So good to see they have arrived in the UK too (but I dont think your coffee is as good:) )

  2. sandy says:

    brillant idea the keepcup, we tend to take a flask with us if we go out ( boring I know) my children think I am getting like their grandmother, not a bad thing

  3. Mrs Green says:

    @Stephanie: Hi Stephanie; I believe the keep cups originate in Australia. Great that you won yours – congratulations!

    @sandy: Taking a flask is a romantic thing and hey, they work!

  4. Poppy says:

    I’m against ‘coffee-on-the-run’, but I did pop over to ECOutlet and managed to find a superb birthday pressie for my 5 yr old nephew that I’m pretty sure his Eco sensitive parents will approve of 😀

  5. Kirsty Smith says:

    Hi Mrs Green

    I’m loving the snake draught excluder from Ecoutlet. The reused packaging and information that the delivery note contains regarding recycling of the packaging is a brilliant idea.

    I was wondering whether to have a go at making one myself, as I have a couple of doors that could do with some draught exclusion, but I don’t have spare cash for them. Can you confirm the length, width and weight of your snake so I can price materials up. If I go ahead and make one it will not look quite as attractive as the ones from Ecoutlet.

  6. Mrs Green says:

    @Poppy: Wahee! let us know how well the gift is received (and I’m a nosey bird, so when the event is over tell me what it was too 😉 )

    @Kirsty Smith: Hi Kirsty; probably well against the rules but here goes 😉
    length 33″
    width 3 1/2 – 4″
    weight 857gms

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