My brother and I started Bluebag in 1998 - selling fresh sandwiches, salads and of course coffees in a takeaway format.  Based in the Melbourne CBD we were targetting the time poor business person.  In doing so we became increasingly concerned of the contribution of our business model to landfill.  We looked at refilling juice bottles, selling salad containers to be filled, but it was the disposable coffee cup that was most conspicuous and ubiquitous.

We looked to find a suitable reusable cup cup for resale - but they were bulky, ugly, didn't fit under the machines, came in irregular sizes - we toyed with the idea of making our own - the costs were off putting and we constantly returned to the question - would people wash the cup?

The resolution came in 2007. Each morning and evening I would give my daughter a warm milk in a sippy cup - at work I would have a takeaway coffee each morning and afternoon.  The thought of giving my daughter her milk in a disposable cup seemed barbaric - so why was it ok for me?  It was then I realised that it was not will people wash their cup - we have to, we have no choice if we want to look our children in the eye. The time had come.

In October 2007 we engaged Cobalt Niche industrial design to bring our vision to life and almost two years later, June 2009 we saw the first KeepCups roll off the production line. 

The KeepCup has been a labour of love so we are just thrilled that people have adopted and used the KeepCup and spread the word right around the world. Well done everyone!

We are a private Australian business.

Abigail Forsyth
Jamie Forsyth