Me and my coffee cup.

Credit: Julie G

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Another one of our first few challenges was giving up disposable coffee cups for a month, back in 2008. At the time, I switched to making my own coffee at work in a ceramic mug, but we explored other options for reuseable cups too.

And finally, I've jumped on the bandwagon: I've bought myself a KeepCup! I got one for my husband too. It's a reuseable mug designed by baristas to be the same size as the disposable, unrecycleable, paper-plus-plastic ones most cafes use. I'll still be using my ceramic mug at work, and the new cup is for weekends and days off.

Please excuse the goofy look on my face in the photo - until I finish my coffee I'm a bit unpredictable in the mornings!

My husband and I took them into our local coffee shop this morning for a test-drive. They fit perfectly under the coffee-machine nozzle, and the lids pop on and off easily. The band is multi-purpose: as well as giving you somewhere cool to the touch to hold the cup, you can write on it or colour-in the options to remind your barista what you like to drink.

Our coffee-shop lady (hi, Mata!) liked them so much she's thinking of getting some for her store to sell to customers. It'd certainly cut back on her costs if she could reduce the amount of disposable cups she has to buy.

Of course, KeepCups aren't the only option, there's lots of good brands out there. And if you don't like any of those, you should get involved with the betacup competition - they're looking for the best ideas for reducing coffee cup waste, and giving away a $10,000 cash prize for the best one. You can enter in teams or go solo. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

How's your disposable coffee-cup use? What alternatives do you like best?