KeepCup was founded in 2007 by Abigail Forsyth and her brother Jamie Forsyth. Prior to KeepCup, they operated a food take-out business with six stores in Melbourne, Australia, selling fresh sandwiches, salad and coffee -- to go. However, they became increasingly concerned about the waste associated with their business and began to think that convenience was coming at too high an environmental cost. In their business, the "to-go" cup was the most conspicuous and voluminous piece of disposable packaging and they went about trying to find alternatives.

At first, they tried to find a suitable commuter mug -- but they were bulky, ugly, didn't fit under the espresso machines and came in irregular sizes. So they set about creating new ones. In June 2009 the first KeepCups were manufactured. Since then, Abigail and Jamie estimate that through sales of their cups, they have diverted 30,000 tonnes of disposable cup-waste from landfills.

Inspired by the idea that we should reduce the widespread use of disposable cups and present consumers with a fun, practical and safe alternative, KeepCup continues to develop and improve the sustainability of its organisation and products.