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Jo O'Brien

Jo O'Brien

Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

make art, not waste

Today I celebrate a little milestone – 20 coffee cups saved from landfill.

Not too long ago, I became very aware of the huge quantities of coffee the RedBubble office consumes. (The internet never sleeps and neither shall we!)

I probably should have been concerned about the adrenalin pumping heart tremor causing effects of caffeine, but instead I set off on a personal crusade to reduce the number of take away coffee cups we were throwing out each week.

My first attempt was to drink fewer cups of coffee. I got the shakes as withdrawal set in, and was only saving 2-4 coffee cups from landfill per day. I declared this tactic a dismal failure and pledged to do better.

Thankfully, Russell knew a stylish and aesthetically pleasing place for us to pick up some reusable plastic cups for those times when our caffeine levels are critical. So we ordered a bunch and now every staff member here has one.

The amount of coffee cup waste has significantly reduced and today I ordered my 20th guilt free cappuccino with one sugar. It felt good. Very good.

But then I wondered about all the other disposable coffee cups out there. This got me searching for some cool things you can do with them. It turns out, quite a lot…

The lantern festival and reusing coffee cups
Foam cup drawings sell for hundreds
Coffee cup masks
Learn to make coffee cup tissue dispensers
Take the coffee cup challenge


Splash set by Tracy Wallace

Comments

  • Melinda Kerr
    Melinda Kerralmost 4 years ago

    A cup you can take to cafes? What a brilliant idea.

  • The simplest ideas are often the best. The cafe loves them too because they are the exact same size as standard take away cups.

    – Jo O'Brien

  • RandyLMonteith
    RandyLMonteithalmost 4 years ago

    Here Jo I know the relationship that youi have with certain types of machines and made you this reusable coffee cup

    Enjoy

    Randy

  • My washing machine fetish isn’t exactly a secret then huh?
    Love it!

    – Jo O'Brien

  • clarkey
    clarkeyalmost 4 years ago

    LOL, this is a wonderful Journal, Jo, and your links lead to sites which are really cool . . . and handy! Although I have to wonder at the sanity of someone who’d pay $US120.00 for one with a drawing on it.

  • People make very expensive art out of all sorts of things

    – Jo O'Brien

  • sally williams
    sally williamsalmost 4 years ago

    Oohh, where do you get the cups from?

  • We bought ours from keepcup.com.au but there are plenty of places your can get them.

    – Jo O'Brien

  • DeviousLili
    DeviousLilialmost 4 years ago

    Hooray for recycling and reusing and for your brilliant, sexy mind!! Love the idea immensely. Now, if I ever spent any real time anywhere other than inside my house with my glass mug with the one million USD bill on it … (I’ll have to take a photo of it now, I’m sure) … yeah.

    You rock, Sweetpea. Always thinking. xox

  • So what you’re saying is that

    a. you always reuse your coffee cup
    b. you save petrol by staying home
    c. I have a sexy mind

    Sounds, pretty good to me ;)

    – Jo O'Brien

  • jetsta42
    jetsta42almost 4 years ago

    awesome

  • hello there you :)

    – Jo O'Brien

  • clarkey
    clarkeyalmost 4 years ago

    Now that is something I would love to see but the impossibility of getting there makes it a wish which will remain unfulfilled. thanks for the link, Jo, it’s very interesting, and fascinating.

  • jetsta42
    jetsta42almost 4 years ago

    Hiiiiiii! x

  • DeviousLili
    DeviousLilialmost 4 years ago

    a. I reuse it to the point where the paint is chipping away.
    b. I prefer to walk everywhere, anyway. Makes it easier to capture things with the camera. ;)
    c. Damn right, you do!

    xox

  • tkrosevear
    tkrosevearalmost 4 years ago

    awesome recycling job jo ;) xoxox TK ♥

  • Cheers TK, and we’re doing it in style!

    – Jo O'Brien