Design A Better Coffee Cup and Win $20,000!

From Betacup's website:

58 billion paper coffee cups are thrown away, unrecycled, each year. The betacup challenge is an effort to reduce this waste – and we need your help.

We invite you to submit ideas but also to comment and rate others’ ideas, and engage in discussions with other betacup community members and contest jurors.

You should consider:

Waste Reduction – how does the Idea reduce the number of non-recycled coffee cups thrown away each year?

Resources Required – what resources will it take to implement the Idea? (money, energy, water, materials, time, etc)

New or Existing Capabilities – does the Idea use existing technologies or approaches? If not, what must be created or invented to implement the Idea?

The Whole experience – Don’t forget the importance of the “whole experience”. Alternatives to paper cups are available today but they are not being widely used. How effective is the Idea likely to be in achieving its goal?

A different contest format (hint: we’re encouraging collaboration)
The betacup differs from most contest formats, because it is open. We are using jovoto, so when you submit an idea, your ideas are open to the public for comment and ratings.

We think this feedback process will help make ideas even better, so we encourage you to submit ideas early and benefit from the feedback. Don’t have an idea? No problem, you can still help out by offering feedback to others.

How will the $20,000 prize be awarded?
The top idea as decided by a jury will earn $10,000.

The top 5 ideas as decided by community ratings will have $10,000 divided amongst them.

It is our intention that ideas submitted belong to the person submitting them. However, because the ideas are posted publicly, we encourage you to discuss possible intellectual property issues with an intellectual property lawyer before submitting. Additional please review the ownership and licensing terms are discussed in the contest rules.

This international contest starts on April 1, 2010 and ends on June 15.

If any members of the Wesleyan community are interested in collaborating as a team, contact:

Rabbi David Leipziger Teva

Director of Religious and Spiritual Life

University Jewish Chaplain

Wesleyan University

Middletown, CT 06459

860-685-2278