It’s no secret that plastic water bottles are a detriment to the environment — Americans alone use approximately 50 billion plastic water bottles each year, only 23% of which are recycled. Thus, an additional 38 billion plastic bottles begin a centuries-long decomposition journey annually.
What if we could replace those plastic bottles with something more environmentally friendly — edible, even?
Enter Ooho!, a completely biodegradable water “bottle” that eschews plastic packaging altogether for a biodegradable seaweed- and calcium chloride-based membrane that is safe for human consumption. Vaguely reminiscent of a silicone implant, Ooho! is essentially an edible water balloon. When you’re ready to hydrate, you simply pierce the membrane and slurp away.
To create the bottles, spheres of ice are treated with a liquid form of the seaweed-derived membrane. When the membrane solidifies and the water melts, a portable, eco-friendly serving of packaged water remains. Each orb costs only 2 cents to construct.
“The most clear inspiration is the way nature encapsulate liquids using membranes. Made of lipids and proteins, the membrane enclose, limit and give a shape, keeping the balance between the interior and the exterior,” the product’s designers write.
Ooho! is the brainchild of London-based Skipping Rocks Lab, which just received a sizable sustainability grant from the European Union to hopefully introduce its novel concept on a large scale. The product also won the Lexus Design Award last year.
