Drink water inside the bottle and eat the whole bottle!!!
Have you ever thought of water bottle which can be consumed along with the water
inside it? Name of such edible water bottle is Ooho!- “The water you can eat”...
Interested? Here are the details of such initiative……
Plastic water bottles take over 1,000 years to bio-degrade and if incinerated, they produce toxic fumes. There are 50 billion water bottles consumed globally each year (as per 2011 statistics). Around 30 billion of them are consumed in the US which shows that Americans are about 60% responsible for the problem while only being 4% of the global population. That is 1,500 water bottles consumed every second in the U.S. Each year, 17 million barrels of oil is used to produce all of those plastic water bottles. To put that into perspective, that much oil could keep a million cars fueled for an entire year! Plastic drinking bottles contain many chemicals, some of which interfere with hormones in the body. These chemicals include bisphenol-A, or BPA, and phthalates, among others. Chemicals in the plastic can leach into bottled water, especially when exposed to heat or when the bottle is old. 90% of the cost of bottled water is just the bottle.
In order to replace the millions of plastic bottles thrown away every year that end up in the ocean, an 'Edible water bottle' named "Ooho!" has been developed by Skipping Rocks Lab (a London-based packaging start-up) designers Rodrigo García Gonzalez, Pierre Pasalier, and Guillaume Couche. The goal is to create a waste-free alternative to plastic bottles and cups. The Ooho is a spherical packaged edible water bottle, made of seaweed, entirely natural and biodegradable. Each globule contains nine ounces of water and the container itself can be eaten. If not consumed, it is biodegradable in 4-6 weeks. Ooho! was one of the 12 winners at the second annual Lexus Design Awards 2014. They also won the Wired Retail 2016 Start-up of the Year.
How are edible water bubbles made?
The water ball, named "Ooho!" is a biodegradable and natural membrane which can be fully swallowed and digested. It also hydrates the people in the same way as drinking water. It is 100% made of Plants & Seaweed and is biodegradable in 4-6 weeks, just like a piece of fruit. It is edible and can be flavoured and coloured. Most important is it is cheaper than plastic.
The Ooho sphere has a double gelatinous membrane. It is made using a mixture of sodium alginate, taken from brown algae and calcium chloride. The spheres are created using gelification - a technique used in cooking to turn liquids into gel by adding an edible gelling agent. The inventors experimented with various spherification techniques, using different ingredients and proportions, before settling on the Ooho final ‘recipe’.
Where actually Ooho is being used?
While an edible water ball is an interesting idea and could provide merits for an event where participants need no-hassle hydration, such as a marathon or an outdoor music festival. Oohos are being sold from the past 6 months in London and recently signed the first commercial license. They are speaking to event organisers, including Virgin Sports and Live Nation, to run pilots this year and major events in 2018.
Pros and Cons:
C
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· It is not made of plastic material.
· Easy to manufacture.
· At places like cafe points, the water blobs can be made on-site, so it also eliminates the need to truck bottled-water long distances. It involves the process which allows for them to be made on the spot, just before consumption.
· Less expensive to buy (approx US 2 Cents).
· Saves the environment from plastic pollution.
· Packaging is cheaper than plastic and can encapsulate any beverage including water, soft drinks, spirits, and even cosmetics.
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D
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· Packaging – The packaging of these flexible water balls is challenging Also, Ooho provides a sanitary barrier to the encased water, but since consumers actually eat the package, it follows that the package should be hygiene as well.
· Distribution - If the outer packaging is made in the form of flexible packaging, or algae, the water balls will be at risk of being popped accidentally during distribution.
· Hygiene – When edible water balls are placed in a tray, for concert-goers or runners to grab as they pass by, it seems highly unlikely that they are only touching one water ball. Germs will likely contaminate the other water balls, so when it gets down to the last few available, they may become a petri dish of microorganisms.
· While drinking, when user breaks the membrane, the Ooho gets a bit unwieldy and is likely to result in water leaking on the user’s face, hands and table.
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From many articles, we have read that, a lot of efforts are made to address the problem with plastic water bottles, but perhaps no other approach has been quite as inventive and bewildering as the edible water blob. Rather than trying to push plastic bottles into a better recycling system, the inventors embraced the idea that single use was possible with better materials. It appears that a few kinks still need to be worked out, but the idea is inspiring. The designers insist that the process is one that can be easily replicated. In fact, one of the main functions of their research is to encourage people to replicate the recipe in their own homes and create their very own Oohos. Edible water bottles have been tested in many markets in Europe, consisting of the London Marathon. Significant challenges need to be addressed, before the Ooho is sold to the general public. Skipping Rocks Lab is still dealing with the challenges. Nevertheless, the designers are working to bring it to market ASAP. They are hoping that Ooho will end up being available for purchase on platforms like Amazon. Let Ooho be the global solution to water and drinks on-the-go.
Sources:
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