Local woman's green solution
By Cathy Dobson

Most new products take five years from conception to sales, but Lisa Matlovich's passion for her invention has brought her to the marketplace in just 24 months.

She began selling her environmentally-friendly reusable cup sleeves this fall and forecasts sales of 1.5 million in the first year.

"I never back down," says the Sarnia woman who has staunchly taken on local environmental issues over the years, including a campaign to stop pesticide use.

"There were setbacks as I developed the sleeves, but every time something went wrong and I felt like packing it in, I'd find something that encouraged me to keep going," she said.

Encouragement came from many fronts, like the friend who had the expertise to help Matlovich make the mold for her plastic sleeves; or Leo Stathakis, owner of the Coffee Lodge chain, who has become her first major client.

Two years ago, Matlovich was a regular customer at the Coffee Lodge and tried to reuse the paper coffee sleeves that came with her hot beverage. But the paper didn't last past a couple of uses.

Matlovich wouldn't double cup. "The practice of double cupping uses in excess of 281.85 pounds of paper for every 1,000 cups and sends an extra 2,029 pounds of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere," she says.

That got her thinking about the possibility of a reusable sleeve to reduce waste and save trees.

She went home and created a faux leather sleeve that worked but not well.

"Then I found out that no one had a patent on a reusable sleeve." So the nutritional consultant-turned-entrepreneur started work on her design.

She came up with a plastic sleeve that's ribbed inside so it acts like a thermos on a paper coffee cup. The sleeves are recyclable in most areas, but not in Sarnia-Lambton where #7s aren't collected. However, Matlovich plans to start a collection service locally so her old product can be shredded and reused at her own factory in Wallaceburg.

The plastic for "cup-a-round®" has no volatile organic compounds, a toxin found in many plastics, and it has no toxic hardener. Each cup-a-round sports the client's logo. It's so durable, it can withstand the microwave, boiling and freezing. In testing her product, Matlovich even ran over her sleeves repeatedly with her car.

"We did everything we could think of and it still kept its shape and looked great," she said.

She has applied for a patent and has started distribution in the U.S.

This fall, Matlovich leased space at the M2M 1 Source Plastic plant in Wallaceburg where she provides the equipment and they provide the labour.

Clients such as the Coffee Lodge sell the sleeves for $2+ each. Other clients, such as realtors or charities, use the sleeves for promotional purposes or fundraising projects.

Want to talk with Lisa? Email her at
Lisa_Matlovich@cuparound.com
cup-a-round® The Reusable Cup Sleeve
info@cuparound.com