As we’ve covered before, plastic waste is a huge problem to our environment with billions of plastic bottles littering our oceans. What if it was possible to create a water bottle that you didn’t put in the recycling bin, but in your stomach instead?
Ooho looks more like a small jellyfish than a regular water bottle, but is also more hygienic, more economic and sustainable. Created by Rodrigo García González, Pierre Paslier and Guillaume Couche, three industrial design students from Skipping Rocks Lab, Ooho works like an egg yolk which holds the water. A brown algae and calcium chloride compound creates a thin gel around the water, and the double membrane allows labels to be placed between the two layers without glue. “We’re applying an evolved version of spherification to one of the most basic and essential elements of life—water,” said Rodrigo.
The students realized that while using regular water bottles seems like the most convenient option, the fact is that a lot of people regularly buy them without recycling them. Moreover, most of the cost from water bottles comes from the bottle production itself, and Ooho is a way to minimize this substancial manufacturing cost. FYI, Ooho can be produced for about two cents.
Ooho isn’t without flaws of course; the guys behind it are still working on a way to keep the package clean before it’s consumed, and on avoiding spilling too much water during consumption. Those sound like small sacrifices to make though for a product that has the potential to help reduce the 80% of plastic bottles that are never recycled.
Even if Aquafina and other brands don’t make the switch, the method of creating Ooho can be replicated at home. “It’s not DIY but CIY—cook it yourself,” said Rodrigo.
Watch the first demonstration of Ooho in the video below: