Wam! Bam! Cuppow! Lid transforms glass jars into travel mugs

Have a couple of surplus Mason jars on your hands but officially feeling canned out? Try transforming 'em into reusable travel mugs and 'drink like a boss' with the recyclable, BPA-free Cuppow lid.

Wed, Jan 11 2012 at 2:13 PM EST

Now that you’ve successfully converted those old jars of Grey Poupon into sugar shakers and creamers and those Campbell’s soup cans into soap pumps and toothbrush holders, you may have your sights set on repurposing that stockpile of glass canning jars.

To-go iced coffee anyone? Or how about a spill-proof adult beverage?

Say hello to Cuppow, a custom-molded, BPA-free recyclable plastic lid that instantly transforms your standard Mason or Bell jar into a nifty little reusable drinking vessel. Although it’s being marketed as a DIY travel mug solution, I’m thinking the Cuppow would come in most handy during rowdy, cocktail-fueled house parties when keeping things orderly and spill-free is a top priority. Can you imagine a room full of people drinking vodka cranberries out of Mason jar sippy cups? I can and it’s pretty amusing.

Cuppow’s designers, Joshua Resnikoff and Aaron Panonem, do some explaining:

The canning jar already makes an awesome platform for a travel mug: it’s easy to clean, made of heat-resistant glass, cheap, durable, and when sealed it doesn’t leak. The only problem is that with their large openings, canning jars are not great for spill-free sipping while on the move. So we adapted it - made a new lid that lets us drink like a boss from virtually any wide-mouth canning jar. It’s a simple eco-friendly alternative to poor-performing and messy disposable hot cups, and over-built and expensive travel mugs.

I’m digging this although as a few commenters over at Core77 have pointed out, drinking coffee of the non-iced variety and other hot beverages out of a glass jar isn’t exactly practical (or safe) without an insulator of some sort. I guess it’s time to hit up some thrift stores in search of hilarious beer cozies. Or as Lloyd Alter at TreeHugger has suggested: "... I suppose that if you are the type of person who drinks out of jam jars, you could use an old sock."

What do you think of Cuppow? Ingenious or unnecessary? If you’re leaning towards the former, click here to purchase your very own Cuppow for $7.99.