Wow, you've got to read this article. Congratulations to Icelandic product design student Ari Jónsson on developing this amazing biodegradable bottle.
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| Photo by Ari Jónsson |
This biodegradable water bottle breaks down when it’s empty
Excerpt here:
Your water bottle could one day start to biodegrade the moment you
finish drinking, if a visionary piece of design becomes reality.
The brainchild of Icelandic product design student Ari Jónsson, the
bottle holds its shape until you’ve drained it. As soon as it’s empty,
the bottle will start to decompose.
As he argued in
Dezeen Magazine: “Why are we using materials that take hundreds of years to break down in nature to drink from once and then throw away?”
How does it work?
The bottle is made from a powdered form of agar – a substance
obtained from algae. When this powder is mixed with water it becomes a
jelly-like material, which can be moulded into a shape of your choosing.
Jónsson explained in an article with
Co.Exist
that the mix of algae and water produces the perfect lifespan for the
bottle. It needs liquid to hold its shape, but once it’s empty it begins
to break down.
He argues that the water is entirely safe to drink, although it
might take on a bit of a salty taste after a while. You could even eat
the bottle, which is said to taste a bit like “seaweed jello”.
At the moment the design is little more than a concept, but Jónsson
hopes it will get people thinking about the problem and consider
developing their own solutions.
