Here in the Crikey bunker, there’s a manilla folder labelled “Intern Survival Kit.”

Inside, each starry eyed work experience kid will find the door code scribbled on a Post It note, a half chewed pencil, some instructions written by an anonymous helper with tips such as

“don’t look the editor in the eye”

“there are no toilets” and

“First Dog is the only one in here who knows what he’s doing”

and a detailed map pointing to the five closest coffee joints in town.

The first lesson for every intern: caffeine. Not to get too dramatic about it, but coffee is, in fact, more necessary than air, water and protein to some members of this office.

Offer to go on a coffee run and we’re yours forever. If you don’t offer, we’ll ask. Then tell. Don’t judge us, we don’t care.

Now all this is all very well and good until you do the cup count. The equivalent of three paddocks’ worth of foliage is consumed each week in order for the Crikey office to keep functioning like normal humans.

Enter KeepCup. Love coffee? Love the planet? Love coffee more than the planet?

Then this plastic vessel is for you.

keepcup-6-small

Created with the aide of development grants from Design Victoria and City of Melbourne, KeepCups have been designed, tooled, owned and manufactured in Australia and they’re made from food grade polypropylene. At the end of life (approximately four years) KeepCup can be recycled or the components can be replaced.

Sure, it’s not very cool to carry your own plastic cup to the counter, but at least it’s a pretty colour. And what’s cool compared to all those extra trees? Try telling the dead Amazon you’re too cool.

Wean yourself off the taste of coffee filtered through the corpses of trees and say hello to a reusable cup that keeps the beverage hot and doesn’t smell plasticky to boot.

The Crikey team all chose a natty colour combination each and then dutifully selected their beverage of choice by penning in the corresponding coffee menu item on the rubber band that encircles the cup (two uses: ensures the cup is not too hot to hold and means you can personalise your cup.)

At Crikey we review without fear or favour, so here are the (mixed) responses. Negative reviewers shall henceforth be labelled baby killers:

Ruth Brown — Strong skinny latte: The cup has all the features of a regular paper cup, but with the added sense of smugness and self-satisfaction that comes from not going through a tree’s worth of cardboard every month. I’m a big fan.

Eleri Harris — Latte: Mmmm… difficult to clean if left for some time.

Leigh ‘Global Warming Sceptic’ Josey — Latte with one: I’d prefer to drink out of a whale’s tusk.

Jane Nethercote — Strong latte with half: Guilt was affecting my morning coffee; now the virtue enhances the taste. I like that the KC simulates a normal takeaway coffee cup so that baristas don’t get too snippy about having to use it. Good thing is, even if they don’t like me using it, no-one will arc up because they would look like they hated the environment.

Jonathan Green — Large skinny latte: I’m tremendously impressed with my new KeepCup. I feel like I’m saving the planet, one paper cup at a time. All of this in a range of natty decorator colours.

First ‘I hate democracy’ Dog — Large skinny flat white: I think I’d rather use environmentally sound recycled paper cups than this cancer causing toxic garbage destined for land fill with a half life of 100,000 years.*

Sophie Black — Long macchiato: I like the font. And I for one will not be telling my tiny, big eyed future child that the reason there are no trees to build a cubby in is because mummy really secretly preferred the feel of a corregated cardboard cup to a rubber band.

Test it out for yourself.

*note: this wildly inaccurate assertion does not reflect this website’s views nor those of the author. As noted above, KeepCup is completely recyclable and does not cause cancer.