We use bottled water. This is convenient: you can drink anywhere-on the street, at work, in the gym, in the woods.
And then a used plastic bottle of water or another drink replenishes the mountains of garbage. And it’s good if, when quenching our thirst, we put an empty bottle in an urn or a garbage container – so the container can get recycled, and something else useful will turn out. But how often do we just throw garbage into the bushes!
According to scientists, bottles decompose in nature for about two hundred years. This means that your great-grandchildren will probably see a discarded package of mineral water today.
Did you know that the Pacific Great Garbage Patch contains, according to scientists, about one hundred million tons of plastic garbage and occupies almost a percentage of the area of the Pacific Ocean, that is, 1.5 million square kilometers?
Fortunately, in addition to recycling waste, scientists have discovered the bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis, which can quickly decompose packaging made of polyethylene terephthalate – the most common material for the production of packaging of liquid products.
And students at Imperial College London, Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, Guillaume Kuch and Pierre-Yves Pasl, have invented a biodegradable capsule.
Water drop
The invention is a sphere created from algae and gelatin. It completely decomposes within a few days. And you can just eat it.
A drop contains one SIP of water. The shell is a flexible membrane, similar to the surrounding egg yolk. It’s thin, and it sings “Ooho!” can’t stand long journeys. The team is working on creating external packaging drops, such as those that are easily biodegradable but thicker and more durable.
The creators present it as an orange-the thick peel contains several slices-SIPS, the thick peel you open and just throw away. And in a couple of days, there won’t be a trace of it left. The drop packaging can have any taste, although, according to Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, the shell’s own taste is neutral and quite edible even without any additives.
The idea interested the famous chef Ferran Adria, who is called the father of molecular gastronomy, so the refined taste of the shell is guaranteed. In the capsule “Ooho!” you can put not only ordinary water, but also juice, lemonade, iced tea and even alcoholic beverages.
Do it with your hands
The Ooh! Project Team he does not consider his creation an ordinary stratap, they do not pursue a business idea, but simply strive to make the world cleaner by freeing humanity from the mountains of complex packaging. Even though they have received a patent for their invention, they are willing to share it with everyone. You can create a capsule with water yourself-in your own kitchen from food ingredients-although not very common, but quite affordable.
You will need calcium lactate, the calcium salt of lactic acid, known as food supplement E327. It is used as a substitute for table salt, a preservative in canned food, to enrich fruit juices-calcium lactate is a good source of calcium for the body.
You will also need the salt of alginic acid-sodium alginate, a food additive E401, used in the food and pharmaceutical industry as antacids-substances used to regulate the acidity of the stomach.
It is too early to say when an alternative to the plastic bottle will appear on the shelves of grocery stores. In addition to the problem of fragility, there is also the problem of storage-Ooho! it quickly deteriorates, because the shell easily decomposes.
Difficulties arise with the stereotypes of perception – the reaction of the subjects, who were asked to try out a new water package on the street, ranged from surprise and admiration to disgust. The creators plan to begin to accustom the consumer to a new form of water with the spread of Ooho! at various events and in sports-when an athlete, for example, a marathon runner, receives water and food without stopping the competition.
Such large multinational companies as Google and Tesco (the largest food retail chain in the UK, as well as Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Poland and other countries) are interested in the project.
Are you ready to transport water in a capsule?
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