Yesterday, June 17, the betacup (a project aimed at finding a more convenient alternative to the non-recyclable coffee cup) and Starbucks Coffee Company, the major sponsor of the movement, announced the winners of the contest launched on April 1 to engage creative thinkers in solving the disposable cup waste problem through open collaboration.
Starbucks was sponsoring the contest as part of its aim to serve 100 percent of its hand-crafted beverages in reusable or recyclable cups by 2015. The company provided $20,000 in cash prizes to be awarded for the most innovative ideas. The participant who submitted the best idea, determined by an expert panel, received a $10,000 cash prize. In addition, participants whose ideas were among the top five selected by the community of collaborators was each awarded a $2,000 cash prize.
The entrants introduced their stunning videos, illustrations and presentations, explaining their idea on how to achieve the ultimate goal. The 430 works were ranging «from biodegradable single-use cups to social incentive schemes to encourage reuse, from edible ‘coffee balls’ to cups that could be repurposed as playground equipment.» Still, the number of winners was limited, and the experts had to make their choice.
After a long rating process, the jury named a creative group of Mira Holley, Nick Partridge, Gillian Langor, Mira Lynn, Zarla Ludin, Ruth Prentice (Karma Cup) as an overall winner and gave its special mentions to Jesko Stoetzer (The Betacup & The Betacup Campaign), Raph D’Amico (Champion Cup), and Scott Moorhead (Band of Honor).
The Community Rating Winners, selected by public voting, are the following: The Betacup & The Betacup Campaign (Jesko Stoetzer) Berlin, Cuptokeep (Katarina Mattsson & Angelica Lindgren) Stockholm, The NextCup (Wouter Middendorf) Rotterdam, The Neutral Resource Coffee Cup (Aaronn Levine) Solomon Islands, Networked Loyalty (joshbg2k) NewYork, Brooklyn.
The results were announced online at www.livestream.com/thebetacup, and during the event, the organizers shared insights gained from the contest and discuss plans for the future.
The contest was taking place on the betacup’s partner platform jovoto.com, a leading mass collaboration community for innovators and creatives, with a strong media support provided by Core77.com. Anyone could submit an idea on how to reduce paper cup consumption and promote adoption of environmentally-friendly alternatives. Ideas were open to the public for discussion, and community members and jurors will be able to provide feedback, allowing collaborators to refine and update their submissions through June 15, when the contest came to a close.
You can view the works, submitted during the competition, at www.jovoto.com/contests/drink-sustainably/landing.
For more information on the project, please, go to its Facebook page or Twitter feed.