Pop Water Into Your Mouth, Literally

Americans use approximately fifty billion plastic disposable water bottles every year. Only about twenty three percent of those water bottles are recycled. The water bottles that are not recycled go to a landfill where it takes them about 450 years to decompose.  To solve that problem the Ooho water bottle company engineered an edible and disposable water bottle made out of lipids and protein. Even though the water bottle is called a bottle, it actually is not one. It is a seaweed and calcium chloride based membrane holding water inside of it. To drink the water in the bottle you pop a hole in it and release the contents.

The Ooho edible water bottle was engineered to help environmental sustainability. When we use disposable water bottles, they are made out of plastic which is bad for the environment. The process to make plastic itself is bad for the environment because it pollutes the air. With littering, the plastic water bottles can end up in the ocean and on the streets where animals try to eat them, which can cause them to choke and die. With the edible Ooho water bottle people can eat it, and not feel tempted to litter it. Even if people do litter the container, they will not be bad for the environment because they are biodegradable. Also, even if people littered and animals ate them, the water bottle would not harm them.

Even though the Ooho water bottles have many great features, they have a problem. The membrane around the water is not very strong, and can pop easily with something sharp. If it pops, water can get everywhere. The main reason people would have the Ooho water bottle is to put it in a purse, backpack, or lunchbox. People have important things in their bag which could be ruined by the water so people might be less likely to use the water bottles.

There is a solution to this problem. The Ooho water bottle company could engineer multiple membranes around the water so it would not pop as easily. However, this would cause another problem. It would make it too hard for people to pop the water bottle with their teeth. To make it so people would be able to bite through the water bottle, the company could make it so that when the enzymes in people’s mouth came in contact with the water bottle, the bottle would start to dissolve in their mouths and make it easier to bite through.

Overall, I think the Ooho water bottle can really help the environment because it can decrease the amount of plastic bottles made which will help reduce pollution, minimize the amount of litter, and will reduce the number of animals who are injured or die from plastic water bottles. If the company engineered another membrane around the water and make the layers dissolve when you put it in in your mouth, I think the Ooho water bottle would become very popular and would make the earth a better place in which to live.

References

Clemens, D. (2015, September 29). Meet Ooho!, the Edible, Plastic-Free Water Bottle. Retrieved from http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/tech/meet-ooho-the-edible-plastic-free-water-bottle/

Spendlove, T. (2015, November 25). Ooho, the Edible Water Bottle ENGINEERING.com. Retrieved from http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/11045/Ooho-the-Edible-Water-Bottle.aspx