New invention, designed by a group of students, might just be what the world needs in order to eliminate plastic bottles and solve the problem of extreme pollution once and for all. The secret- a new water/liquid bubble-like container that is not only biodegradable, but it is also resistant, hygienic, and most importantly, edible. Called Ooho, the invention resembles an egg yolk in functionality, and it is made of brown algae and calcium chloride, following a technique that everyone can apply in their own kitchen.
The design, which just won the LEXUS Design Award, 2014, belongs to Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, Pierre Paslier and Guillaume Couche, founders of the Skipping Rocks Lab, and currently students at the Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art. The inventors followed the simple cooking technique of spherification, in order to produce the container and fill it with water.
To contain the liquid inside, the guys had to come up with a membrane, which is strong enough not to break down as it is held, but also it had to be made of clean and safe materials. After a number of tries they were able to create a gelatinous membrane out of sodium alginate extracted from brown algae, and calcium chloride. The final product does not resemble a bottle in shape, but it does exactly what we need it for- contains the liquid inside, while it does not create unnecessary pollution.
To make an Ooho, you actually do not need any fancy equipment or infrastructure, as most plastic bottle producers do. You can simply get yourself the needed ingredients, follow any tutorial online, just to make sure that you get the technique right, and this will be it. If you are still not convinced that it works, take a look at this video. It is a truly revolutionary technology, I must admit.
Image (c) designboom