To combat the rising waste of plastic water bottles, a start-up company called Skipping Rocks Lab has come up with a solution by creating edible water bottle. This edible water bottle comes by the name of ‘Ooho!’ and it resembles very much like a large droplet of water. To be more precise, it is a membrane that encapsulates water.
It all started with three London-based design students who aim to reduce the environmental impact by creating waste-free packaging from natural materials extracted from plants and seaweed.
According to The Telegraph, Ooho is the first product[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] that the company has come up with after two years of researching and by far, it has received great attention.
Ooho is a membrane that encapsulates water while being edible in the meantime.
This is made possible by a process called spherification which simply means the process of shaping something into a semi-solid sphere. In this case, it is water and it requires only two ingredients: calcium chloride and sodium alginate.
As scientific as it may sound, they are actually ingredients that can be found around us. Calcium chloride found in food additive and sodium alginate extracted from brown seaweed.
Water is first being frozen into ice cubes and they are then dipped into calcium chloride solution. This makes up the first layer of the membrane.
To reinforce the structure, a second layer is made by soaking the newly formed water ball into sodium alginate. As soon as the ice melts in the solidified double membrane, water can be consumed.
There are two ways to consume Ooho. Based on another news report by Fast Company, the cofounder of Skipping Rocks Lab said that ‘For people who are trying out for the first time, they might want to eat it wholly as part of the experience.
Ooho acts just like the peel of a fruit. No one is expected to eat the peel of a fruit and the design of Ooho is an example of nature’s way of packaging.’ The outer membrane keeps the inner membrane hygienic. Thus, the outer membrane is peeled off before consuming it, either by puncturing the inner membrane before drinking and disposing it or to take it in wholly. The company has also mentioned that Ooho can be used for other liquids such as spirits, soft drinks and also cosmetics.
The plus side of this invention is that it only takes about four to six weeks to decompose as compared to plastic bottles where it is assumed to take 450 years for it to completely degrade.
The company claims that Ooho is cheaper than plastic bottles to reproduce. An interesting fact about plastic water bottles is that 90 per cent of the price for a bottle of water goes into the bottle itself in terms of packaging, shipping and marketing while only ten per cent of the price goes to the actual water. As for Ooho, it can be made on the spot where each water ball can be made in two seconds and thus eliminates the need for it to be shipped from one place to another.
However, the downside of this invention according to Boy Genius Report (BGR), an online source of news and commentary in America is that the amount of water held in Ooho which is only a single gulp of water would not be considered as convenient on a daily basis usage.
Another thing to take note on based on BGR is the fragility of the membrane as it could not just simply be tossed into a bag without the possibility of breaking the membrane.
Skipping Rocks Lab has thus far won many awards and they are the 2014 Lexus Design Award, 2014 World Technology Award, 2015 SEA Award and 2016 UK Energy Globe Award. According to the inventor of Ooho, it is said that Ooho is best to be used in outdoor events such as marathons, festivals and also places where there are bound to have a lot of people using packaging and Ooho can serve as water on the go.
Currently, Ooho are being sold in pop-ups for the past six months in London and also in events in London, Boston and San Francisco.
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