Do you know how much you are contributing towards waste accumulation? Let us give you an idea; if you’re an average coffee drinker then you throw away about 500 disposable cups every year. Now, how do we fix this? The first idea that pops up in your mind is to make use of a travel cup, however, the standard cup is not very convenient to carry around and that is exactly where Ben Melinger aged 34 comes in with his innovation that is being called Smash Cup.
What you’re looking at is a 5” high cup with a capacity of 12 ounces (hot and cold), but that’s not the beauty of it. The beauty of this cup is exhibited when you realize that you can collapse this cup down to a height of 1.75”. The Smash Cup has been designed as a portable, eco-friendly and reusable coffee cup with a spill-free cap that can be collapsed into something quite smaller and be easily carried around in pocket or handbags. As per Ben, the energy required to collapse the cup is almost the same you would be spending if you were to smash an egg on the table (hmm, accidental collapses anyone?)
Ben says; ‘When we first came up with the idea we were amazed there were no similar products on the market. Smash Cup is reminiscent of disposable coffee cups, but upgraded for a more robust and modern aesthetic. We strove to create an iconic look that city commuters, busy parents and students alike would be proud to own and display. It takes years of effort to develop a product and there was so much self-doubt, and so many little hurdles that popped up during the process. But whenever we took a step back and had a look at the Smash Cup with fresh eyes, we always felt we had a winner; this kept us pushing ahead – one step at a time.’ 
It took Ben about two years to develop the idea, however, it sure did pay off when he was able to reach his fund raising target of $10,000 on Kickstarter in one day instead of the 30 days that he had planned. In his own words, he was ‘floored by the response’. However, Ben says he is not in for the money and actually is ‘just happy to know that we’re going to be able to make Smash Cup a real thing and put it on the market.’ He says he love to create things and nothing brings more satisfaction and joy than people appreciating the things he builds.
Smash Cup comes with a water tight seal that can be activated with a quarter turn. It has been made from 3 parts silicone and one part plastic. Ben claims that cleaning the cup is easy and it is also dishwasher safe. The product is available in 5 different colors; red, green, blue, pink and orange whereas the plastic lid comes in either white or dark grey.
