Designing Reusable Coffee Cup Lids with Lauren Yehezkel of Lydy

Hello and welcome to this episode of Conscious Design. I'm your host, Ian Peterman, an author of the Conscious Design book. And today I'm really excited to be talking to Lauren. She's the founder and CEO of Liddly. They make reusable silicone coffee lids that you can use over and over again rather than the disposable ones. Welcome to the show.

Thanks so much for having me.

Yeah. So I always love to start off with how, how did this begin? At what, what made you decide I wanna start a product company and do reusable lids?

Well, it's really interesting. I used to own a cafe for 10 years. And so I just noticed that a lot of people were bringing in their mugs or they were forgetting their reusable cups. And I just noticed that a lot of people were feeling like guilt and shame when they'd forget it. It's an interesting experience. Coke handles, basically. Yeah, it's like, oh, I'm sorry, I forgot my reusable lid. I mean, cup. And so, and I also noticed I used to feel really guilty about how much plastic waste we were contributing. We had a cafe bakery, so there was so much plastic. Everything was wrapped in plastic.

You know, even your supplies are wrapped in plastic, right?

Yeah. I mean, there were oftentimes plastic would be found in the cake. As much as you try to avoid that, unfortunately, because it's clear, a lot of the packaging, you know, it can be sitting on the bench And then you, you know, next minute customer's like, I just had some of your cake and there was a piece of plastic in it. And you know, what do you do? It's like it's everywhere, right? So, um, but it wasn't until I actually dropped 2 of my reusable cups in a week that I was left with the lid that didn't fit on any of my cups in my cupboard. And so I thought to myself, oh, um, Maybe I should create this because, you know, I needed it. And I just— and then suddenly, um, the industrial designer that I had contacted were at my cafe the next day asking me. Yeah, so I was like, oh, okay, this might be a good idea. Um, and then we basically— it took 2 years to create Liddy.

That's, that is some time investment for sure. How did, so you got an industrial designer, you went through this process of design and were there any, I'm guessing there were, but were there, did you shift kind of how you were going about it a lot or did you, because you had so much experience with all kinds of lids and things, were you able to pretty directly aim at this product or did you have a bunch of direction changes along the way?

So my initial consultation, what I wanted literally had to fit the standard size takeaway cups, both like all the standard size. So that was my mission. I wanted to make sure that, you know, because The lid actually takes 450 years to break down and turns into microplastics, whereas the paper cup, yes, it takes 30 years. There are more options available now that are home compostable. So there's more option available there, whereas the lid, you know, as from a coffee background, I know how important coffee is to taste and drink, and particularly when you're on the go. Having a plastic lid changes the flavor of your coffee, and a lot of people don't know that when heated, the plastic lid is toxic. So that's why I wanted to make sure Liddy was, you know, it had to fit those cups. And also because my original thing was wanting to put a lid on any glass cup I covered or mug. That's when I decided it had to be able to be versatile enough to be able to fit, um, not just fit on a mug or glass, but be able to be functional.

Right.

So, right, the trend— yeah, so I was asking a lot from the industrial designers. At one stage, they actually said to me, Lauren, like, this was closer to the end, Um, the, the owner said to me, I don't think you should be doing 2 sizes, just stick with one. Um, and I said no, like, that was my mission. I was determined. And so the— this— we had quite a few prototypes. There were different designs, one of them being— it was like more like a plug. Um, And I didn't really think of— I think because I was working 7 days in the cafe, I wasn't really thinking about what the designer was doing. And also, I probably just thought, you know, the designer knows better. Um, when the prototype came out and I was testing it, it was like, well, you can't ask a customer to have a 3/4 latte. So—

Oh yeah.

Functionally, it doesn't work because You know, can you imagine if I had to tell people, yeah, you're gonna have to have, you know, one quarter less of your coffee, um, and also changes the coffee flavor. So that was, you know, one of the first experiences I had of realizing I needed to really be focused with the industrial designer.

Right.

Um, and then it was just a matter of trying to figure out the design of, um, how to make it look, um, thought out. Um, there was one that was more forward-focused and then having the actual lid sitting backwards so that the part at the back was sitting out. So yeah, it was a journey. There was a lot of prototypes, but in the end it was always about, you know, making sure that it fit multiple sizes.

Right. Well, yeah, it seems, you know, obviously now you have the product, it's out there, you can buy it. It feels kind of like, of course, why would you, why would you not have 2 sizes? But definitely understand the process. It takes a lot to get there sometimes. So, you know, good for you. Going, sticking to that because it's, it works. It's, it works in the end, and it does exactly what you were wanting, which is great. Now, in terms of like material, were there a lot of options, or I feel like silicone is a pretty good material. Did it just like, was that a kind of an obvious one, or did you, did you play with other, other types of material that Ultimately didn't make the cut?

Um, well, actually, the, the designers just went with silicone. It was the only option available that was flexible enough, um, and eco-friendly, um, and sustainable. So that's why we, we just stuck with that. There's a, um, the actual spout cover was— we tested out silicone originally For the spout cover, but decided on recycled plastic.

Okay.

And it had to be recycled plastic and not standard plastic.

Hey, it's Ian here. So glad you're enjoying this episode of Conscious Design. If you want the full scoop on Conscious Design, what it is, how we do it, how you can do it, then check out our book. We wrote it so creative entrepreneurs like you can code social and environmental responsibility right into your brand's DNA. You can download the first chapter for free. Link is in the description. Enjoy the rest of the episode. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share. Right. Well, that's awesome. Yeah, there's, there's so much plastic you can recycle. It's great you're able to, able to use some of that, some of that material that's sitting there.

Yeah.

How kind of on the growing this business? Because right now, right, you have, you got a website, the product is out there. You're, as far as I, you're being sold all over the globe, right? How was the journey getting there? Like, would you have, I know you're in Australia. Did you have a lot of traction there first? Did you, how, how did that How did that journey go in getting to where, where you are now? You're in so many magazines, you're, you're everywhere it seems, but I know it takes, it takes some effort to get there.

Yeah, it's, it's a very interesting journey. Um, I think it took me exactly a year from to the day to really, um, go viral, and I think You know, it was so hard at the beginning. There was a lot of education. A lot of Australians use— well, they talk about using a reusable cup, um, and they're very loud in, um, talking about bringing your own reusable cup, but only 5% actually use a reusable cup. And I think—

Interesting.

Every household In Australia right now, at least, you know, every household now has a reusable cup, but still, you know, 250 billion coffee cups are being used a year. So I struggled with people's understanding of what Lily is about, you know, about recycling. A lot of people are confused about recycling because they think That the lid is the only part that can be recycled. But in actual fact, a lot of people don't realize that, um, one, it's difficult to recycle number 6 plastic. And a lot of the local councils— it's dependent on the local council whether or not they do that, and a lot of them don't. And some of it actually gets shipped over to the Philippines and Vietnam, which, you know, it's just pushing the plastic somewhere else. And most of it just lands up in landfill, you know, breaking down into microplastics. So it was a huge journey for me to learn, um, how to message it properly, um, right, to learn, you know, to be able to educate but also explain why, like, why Liddy, um. And so it, it took me a long time. well, a year of really just honing in on understanding, you know, why Liddy is unique and why, you know, how it benefits. You know, it's not about— we're not saying don't use a reusable cup. It's not about that. It's about, you know, use Liddy when you can't. I carry Liddy on my keychain, so it's always with me. There's times where I just don't know if I'm going to get a coffee, and so When I do, I know I've got Liddy. If I, right, people are busy, you know, it's just that convenience of having something with you knowing that at least I'm doing something, you know, and that's something, you know, every day if someone uses one less lid, that's a huge, I mean, a small cafe can go through 70,000 lids a year.

Wow.

Imagine if, yeah, so that's a lot. Huge, right? Yeah.

Yeah. So that's, you know, a couple, a couple business small cafes worth is, is a big impact to that number then. And quickly, quickly adds up. Is, yeah, I'm kind of curious because from at least my experience in the US is a lot of people, if they bring a reusable cup that has a lid, but not very many people try to bring a lid or, or an open cup. Is that behavior a little bit different? Because you mentioned Australia, you have a reusable cup in almost every household. It's a little bit more, I think a little bit, probably a little bit higher percentage because I feel like 0% do it in the US. Are you finding that behavior different in different markets or different reception, or is it kind of across the board? You're just seeing similar behaviors in terms of reusable anything, bringing it to a cafe.

Yeah, it's interesting. Like, I went to Israel the other month in April, and there were so many people, um, like their families just having plastic cups in the house, using it instead of normal cups, and, um, using takeaway cups for their coffee at home. And okay, interesting. I was like, wow, I was taken aback. I was like, wow, you know, people were saying, you use a reusable cup in Australia, use a— just use a reusable cup. And then there's you know, other places in the world who, you know, don't— they don't, you know, it's convenience over sustainability. So I mean, I definitely think just depends on the culture and where you are in the world. With the US, um, I mean, like so many times I've had people comment on my TikToks or my Instagram Reels and they've been said, why would you use a— why would you bring your own lid when they give what you want free. So, so it's, you know, I think there's still a lot of education about sustain— you know, why plastic is bad and, you know, the little things that you can do. I think, you know, it was interesting, I was at a, um, a function the other week and one of the ladies, Frankie from The Dirt Company, she said, you know, with your marketing it's important to go in like a Trojan horse and not say that you're focused on sustainability, even though you are, because you're more likely to get engagement. And I think that's what I've had to do with Liddy is, you know, the message is, you know, let's put a lid on plastic, but then it also is let's have a fun morning with your coffee, like drinking from this colorful lid, you know. Um, it's really about the barista experience, um, the How they react. So it's more about, you know, the fun novelty of it and rather than, right, I mean, sustainability.

Yeah, I definitely still see that with so many brands. It's very, you gotta talk about kind of the other features and they'll be like, oh yeah, and it's sustainable. Like that has to be like icing on the cake.

Yeah.

Maybe, but like, yes, you're buying the cake. It just happens to be a sustainable cake when you're doing it.

Right.

Which is whatever works, right? I mean, it's what we have to do. And I think, and you mentioned this earlier and I hadn't thought about it, but I think it's a key, and it might be a key, you'll have to tell me if it's a key selling point, But flavor change, right? A lot of people really enjoy coffee. And so, Yeah. Have you seen like, that's, that is that point a, a good selling point or do you see some good reaction? Because I, I feel like I would be like, that would be great. I want my, I want my coffee to taste better if I'm gonna pay for it, right? I might as well have a better tasting coffee every time. Like, Has that been a big impact or how has that played out? I'm curious.

It's interesting. I haven't actually had a, I haven't made a huge, I haven't focused so much on that. I mean, on the website.

That's what I zeroed in on, like, oh, better flavor. How do we do that?

Yes, it's interesting. I mean, I do say that The silicone doesn't taste like anything, so your coffee still tastes like coffee. It's, um, yeah, I think maybe you're, you know, maybe I should start focusing on that because, I mean, the whole design of Liddy and the reason why the spout is raised is so that when you're sipping your coffee, you're slurping it in. And so it has more air that comes through, so you can actually smell the coffee. And taste it, so you get a better tasting coffee. It's interesting because now I cannot drink from a plastic lid. I've there was probably once in the last year that I had to drink out of the plastic lid because the barista forgot to put my lid on, to leave the lid off. And once you take the lid off, it's hard to get lid on because of it's wet makes the cup wet.

Yeah.

Um, so, and I was drinking, you know, I was like, wow, like this just, it just does not feel or taste the same. It just, there's a distinctive difference.

Well, I mean, it makes perfect sense to me because it's, and people like, you're totally right. People don't think about what a material does, right? Because most people don't even think about it. What happens when you heat the material? What, what is it doing? And most of the time, like, we live in Arizona, so there's— you can definitely tell, like, things smell different when it hits 130 degrees. Like, it's right.

Oh yeah.

Just, just anything, anything. Even, even, you know, we can tell our dog when our dog is outside and when it's really hot and comes in, smells different. Like, it's It's things react to heat a lot more than we think about. And those coffee, like those coffees are pretty hot.

Right.

I forget, what is it hot? It's like 110. No, it's hotter. What, what is the temperature of coffee usually? Is it like a, I guess I feel like it's over 120.

Usually, actually. Yep.

It's hot.

I don't know. We're in Celsius degrees, so I don't know. Yeah, I think it's like 65 or something degrees. I don't know what that is.

That'd be like 140. So yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot to put it through. That's awesome.

Right. I mean, and some people, I don't know if you are like this, but some people actually put it in the microwave. The whole cup.

Okay. I can't do that. I know what happens.

That to me is like, oh, like I just freak out when I hear that. I see that. It's just, yeah.

Well, if you look, it doesn't have the microwave safe symbol on it. Like that's, that's where, you know, it's, it's not supposed to be heated that, that much or for very long.

No, no. So, so toxic. Do not do that. Even if you're— I'd rather, like, if someone wants to heat up their coffee, fair enough. Like, I have no issues with people, like, heating up their coffee, right? Um, but put it in a mug, put it in something, you know, before you—

Yes, yes, please do that. Oh, that's awesome. I would Yeah, I, I think it'd be great. I would, I would be very curious to see if you started pushing that because I feel like there's a lot of coffee is a little, can be a little bit like wine where there's, there's people that really, really care and they do, they buy all the accessories to ensure that their, their wine is aerated the right amount as they pour it and then they have the correct wine glass so you can smell and taste because it's They care, right? It's, it's an experience part. And I think those, since you've designed it to enjoy the coffee more, which is great. I think it's, I think it's one of those, it's great Trojan horse, right? It's, it'll make your coffee taste better, smell better. You'll like it more.

Yeah.

And it's environmentally friendly. So it's great.

I love these.

I love that you have these These things that you're like, all these, here's all these great things we designed into it. This is why it's a good product. And then it also happens to be sustainable, which is great. Great.

Right.

Primary aim. But we'll, we'll hide that a little bit. Yeah.

Let's not talk about that. We'll just add that at the end.

Yeah.

Hashtag sustainable. Yes.

It's the little asterisk at the end with the fine print.

Yeah, exactly.

Well, kind of looking forward a little bit, are, how are things, how are you wanting to grow? Are you looking at other products? Do you have, are you getting feedback like that? Or are you really still kind of in the, in the grind and the, and the build of this one product?

Um, look, I'm always going to be thinking about how I can expand Liddy. Um, we were looking at a, um, I was looking at a collapsible part to it, but then I just thought to myself, um, and I went back to the industrial designer, he said to me, look, Lauren, you're focusing on a lid that fits on multiple cups. There's just, there'd be no, um, point going into a collapsible part because people can just take their mug from their cupboard. So look, going forward, I don't know what that might look like. Um, I definitely want to do a piccolo size Liddy.

Okay.

Um, so a mini version, and then yeah, we'll see what happens. Um, but globally, um, I'd love it if Liddy was in every part of the world. Um, I'm actually going to be in New York next week for NY Wine Now, the trade show.

Nice.

So I'm really excited about that.

It'll be exciting. Well, maybe, I, I don't know, maybe you're— maybe literally fits a wine glass, but maybe there's a way, way to make it for, for people that want to enjoy their wine camping or something. Yes, that's what I was thinking.

So funny you say that because I literally, I went to, I don't know, um, we've got this place in Sydney called Peters of Kensington. I don't know if you've heard of it. I don't know if it's— it's basically like you can get all these wine glasses, like anything home, home for your home. Okay. And I, I literally went and tried Lily on every single wine glass.

Yes.

And I found one. I found one.

There's one that it fits? That's amazing.

Yeah, I found one. It was— so I, I still need to do Some reels with it. I keep forgetting because it's just sitting here, but it does fit.

So, and your lid seals, right? So there we go. I love it.

I don't know if people are gonna drink out of— I mean, you know, it actually fits on a schooner glass. Okay, but I don't— I just don't— you know, how many people do you think will drink out of a, you know, their beer out of a liddy, you know, it's—

You know, I think, I think the people that go camping, because there's, if you look like there's the stemless metal wine cups basically. Yeah. The people, those are pretty popular, but they have like kind of an okay lid. Like they're not, they're definitely not for maximum enjoyment. It's just like a standard Kind of pop and seal lids. So, you know, ideas, ideas.

Yeah, I love that. I love that. I'm gonna— I'll look into it. Well, how often do you go camping?

We don't as much, but we used to go camping like 3, 4, or 5 times a year.

Oh, wow.

And we do like one big camp trip a year still.

Wow. I'll have to give you a lid and you can let me know.

Yes, I, yes, I have lots of lid little cup things we can try, try it on. We'll send you, we'll, we'll send you a photo of which one works. That way, you know.

Yeah, maybe we can do like, you know, testing out all your, your mug videos, cups, and—

There you go. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Awesome. Well, yes, let's definitely do that. And, you know, before we, before we wrap up, I just wanna make sure you have a little time to share anything else that you want to. And then of course, for people that want to find you guys, buy your awesome Lidly and go from there.

Awesome. Yeah, no, um, not sure what else to add to that. Um, but it was awesome speaking to you, Ian. It was really fun. If people want to find Lydy, it's— the hashtag is— I mean, the social media handle is @ReusableLydy, and then www.lydy.com.au.

Perfect. And that's L-Y-D-Y for people. And we'll also make sure the links, all the links will be in there for everyone to take a look. If anybody else has any other cups they want to try it, that would be great. See what, see what else it fits on.

See, we can figure it out.

Yeah, exactly. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your, out of your busy day to chat about your product. I love it. It's, it's a fun product. Hopefully we can get more connoisseurs to use it. That would be great. And, uh, yeah, it's been— this has been really fun chatting with you. Thank you.

Yeah, awesome. Thanks so much, Ian. It's been great.