Threadless

Presented by

Betacup
North Americans consume 58 billion paper cups every year. That represents 60% of the world’s total cup wastage because these cups can't be recycled. Instead, most end up in a landfill. Adoption of reusable alternatives to paper cups is low, partially because these alternatives aren’t as convenient as the disposable coffee cup.

In short, we have a serious paper coffee cup problem on our hands. And that’s where the betacup comes in.

Betacup is an open collaboration to reinvent the way we drink coffee. Our goal is to eliminate paper cup consumption. We're trying to do this through a global design contest. The contest lets anyone submit, from designers to engineers to everyday people that just have an idea. From there, anyone can contribute to an idea, provide comments, and vote on their favorites. It's a global effort to solve a serious global problem.

Betacup will culminate in the selection of a winning idea by a jury of experts. The winning idea as selected by the jury will win $10,000 and the top 5 ideas as selected by the community will win a cut of another $10,000. Creators retain complete ownership of their idea, and the winning ideas will be vetted for production possibility.

Check out the ideas or submit your own here.

This challenge has ended
Coffee. Delicious coffee. It's fueled the creation of many artistic works for centuries. It's also fueling the creation of this challenge. (Pause for a sip) One might also say that coffee has fueled the creation of Threadless itself! From early mornings to long nights, it's always there to comfort us and keep us chuggin'. It’s time to give back, my jittery friends.

Your challenge is to design an amazing tee inspired by COFFEE!

Our friends at Betacup are coffee lovers, too, but they want to reduce the number of non-recyclable cups that are thrown away every year. And so in conjunction with their Drink-In Week and idea submission contest, we’re happy to add some sweetener. In addition to the awesome Threadless loot, they’ve rounded Starbucks up to provide a $1000 gift card and a sweet recycled tumbler! You better love coffee.. a LOT!

The chosen design


Up For Grabs blue

  • An awesome 16 oz Starbucks Recycled tumbler
  • A $1000 Starbucks gift card!!!
  • $500 Threadless Gift Certificate (can be redeemed for $200 cash)
  • $2,000 in cash from Threadless!




Loves Things To Note
The purpose of the submissions relating to this promotion is to create a stand-alone design inspired by the challenge, not a brand tee. Your design should not have brand names or logos on it.
Loves Promotion Guidelines
  • The design(s) to be printed will be chosen by the Judges within 45 days after the submission close date.
  • Use the submission form by selecting Participate -> Submit Ideas from the menu or click the button below to submit.
  • All submissions will also be eligible to be printed as a regular Threadless tee.
  • The submission must not be a design that has already been submitted to Threadless.
  • You may only submit up to three designs during the duration of the promotion.
Loves Who Are The Judges
The selected design(s) will be chosen by a panel of Judges including Threadless staff and a representative from the promotion sponsor(s).