The answer is not another cup. Disposable coffee cups are better recycled than in a landfill. But wouldn't it be better not to have to make them in the first place? That will require some behavior chance.
Champion Cup is not a(nother) travel mug. It's not a disposable recyclable cup, either. But it sure could change the way you drink your coffee (and water, and juice, and any other drink that normally comes packaged).
Champion Cup is a platform which makes it easy to see just how much good your travel mug/water bottle/thermos is doing. Imagine knowing that your humble sippy cup saved a tree, and that all you had to do to save another was to keep bringing it with you.
It's easy:
- Step 1. Tag your travel mug
- Step 2. Register your mug online
- Step 3. Use it to pay (and pay less as you're re-using)
- Step 4. Check out how many cups you're saving!
Of course, we need to keep making better drinks containers, and disposable cups that are easier to recycle. But how do we know that we are making a difference?
Before you can change, you need to measure.
Thanks for reading, and comment if you have any questions!
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zakiwarfel jury (contest)
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artymau
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sweetmelissa9978
@zakiwarfel - regarding the concerns of losing the cup with the barcode or using barcode with multiple cups : I have addressed this issue in my submission , which was submitted in April. May I ask for your review of 'Code Green'
http://www.jovoto.com/contests/drink-sustainably/ideas/4793
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hrd2imagin
Code Green submitted on April 20th
Champion Cup submitted on June 1st.
http://www.jovoto.com/contests/drink-sustainably/ideas/4793
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sweetmelissa9978
Now don't get me wrong...I know that with over 400 submissions...that there are going to be similar entries... but you worded your Twitter update just as I did, You made a tree graphic that fits the description of my "CODE GROW" game....and well the list goes on!!
sweetmelissa9978
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sweetmelissa9978
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MrFox
Moreover I think you have responded admirably to some pretty harsh criticism.
Good luck!
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raphdamico idea owner
I hadn't seen your post before submitting. I've got to agree with you that @hrd2imagin is being unfair by talking of theft.
The idea of exposing information to change behaviour is not new (just look at the debate on home energy meters, e.g. http://bit.ly/12HL7X). I've been exploring it for a while. My biggest inspirations lately have been talks by game designers Jesse Schell & Jane McGonigal which I posted on my blog back in March (http://bit.ly/cMWkIm). These concepts have been floating around for a long time, but it's the execution that makes the difference.
It also seems far fetched to single out that we both came up with ideas around trees, given that the contest website itself points out the 20 million trees that we are trying to save by designing BetaCup.
To address your points here are some areas where we vary:
1) PERSON VS CUP / KEYCHAIN VS STICKER
Investing the cup with this history will make for an even stronger reason to take it with you. Losing your cup or forgetting it SHOULD be a downer.
It's also more elegant to not give people yet another bit of plastic to carry around. If it's about the cup, then it should be on the cup.
2) OPENNESS
Perhaps you meant this by saying that someone might write a Facebook application, but I don't think you explicitly pointed out how this would be executed. Champion Cup explicitly advocates an open platform, i.e. for everyone to use for payment and tracking rewards (from Starbucks to your local indie coffee shop).
Champion Cup also focuses on open APIs. A key part of the design is that anyone can build on it, not just participating retailers building promotions.
3) BARCODE & PAYMENT
You suggest scanning the barcode after taking payment, but a key part of getting people to use this system is making it convenient. A big part of using a Champion Cup is that it gets you your coffee quicker and more conveniently too (rather than adding a step).
All that said, I love that we've converged on similar ideas though (and I notice others too, just look at this: http://bit.ly/ddI1PF, http://bit.ly/9nLE76, even http://bit.ly/9nVw29). It simply confirms that we've got something good.
You've got my vote too! Good luck!
Janne
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sweetmelissa9978
sweetmelissa9978
Keytags
sweetmelissa9978
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raphdamico idea owner