Overview

58 billion paper coffee cups are thrown in the trash each year. That's a lot! We think that there are some better ideas for paper coffee cups than just tossing them out so we teamed up with the betacup to bring you the Coffee Cup Challenge! Enter your awesome idea for a paper cup reuse and win a solar-powered Voltaic backpack!

The rules are simple: submit a new Instructable that reuses a paper coffee cup in some way. You can use more than one cup and you can use other stuff along with it, but there has to be at least one cup used.

So get your thinking caps on and start reusing those cups! We can't wait to see what you'll make.

Now that you're warmed up, head over to the betacup where a competition is in the works for the best idea to reduce the number of paper cups that get tossed in the trash. Best idea wins $10,000!
Multiple entries are allowed, but each entrant can only win one prize International entries are allowed for this contest (Official Rules) body { background: #ffffff url(https://www.instructables.com/files/orig/F8F/KMGM/G7WVDGGD/F8FKMGMG7WVDGGD.gif) no-repeat; background-position:center; background-position:top; } .box_small { background-color:#FFF; } #wrap { background-color:#FFF; } .mostRecent {background:#FFF; } #group #sidebar { border:1px solid #444444; margin:0 0 0 0; padding-left:5px; padding-right:0 !important; padding-top:5px !important; width:136px !important; } #main_content { padding-top:150px; } .intro p { font-size:16px; padding:10px; } #content {background:#fff; margin-top:30px; background-color:#fff; } #smallcontestimg {display:none; } .prize{ font-size:large; } #main_content .intro .grouptitle { color:#ffffff; font-size:1px; } .hrStyle { color: #000000; background-color:#000000; } .box_small { border:1px solid #2C2829; } .box_small h3 { background:#2C2829 none repeat scroll 0 0; } .contestStats { padding:5px; margin-left:5px; margin-bottom:5px; float:right; background-color:#F2F7FE; border-right:2px solid #2C2829; border-bottom:2px solid #2C2829; border-top:1px solid #2C2829; border-left:1px solid #2C2829; } #group #sidebar { margin-top:150px; }

The Coffee Cup Challenge is closed.

12 Prizes

First Prize (2 winners)

Voltaic Converter backpack. Charge up your mobile devices with the solar panels in the back of this bag and keep your adventure going!

Plus an Instructables Prize Pack including a one-year Pro membership, Robot t-shirt, and more!

Runner-Up Prize (10 winners)

$25 in Starbucks gift cards so you can get enough caffeine to plan your next project.

Plus an Instructables Prize Pack which includes a one-year Pro membership, Robot t-shirt, and more!

How It Works

Write an Instructable

Create a new Instructable that fits the guidelines outlined in the contest description above. To be eligible, Instructables must be published between Apr 12, 2010 and May 9, 2010 (11:59pm PT).

Enter

Upon publishing your Instructable you'll see checkboxes for open contests. Select Coffee Cup Challenge. If you have entries currently eligible for entry, it will also show up by clicking "Enter this Contest" on the right side of this page.

Accepting

Entries are accepted by Instructables staff within one business day Monday - Friday. What matters is the submission time, not acceptance time.

Judging

A panel of judges made up of Instructables staff and respected members of the community rate the finalists. The averages of the ratings determine the winners.

Winners

When the winners are decided they will be notified and announced here on the contest page.