Go Green! - Ooho Edible Water Pods

Source: Ooho

Skipping Rocks Lab is an innovative start-up based in London. As stated on their website, they are currently pioneering the use of natural materials extracted from plants and seaweed, to create packaging with low environmental impact and their goal is “to make plastic packaging disappear” and they mean it.

Skipping Rocks Lab developed and introduced the water pod concept back in 2013, after a group of college students from Royal College Art and the Imperial College of London birthed the idea. Since then, the company have been “developing the technology and improving the properties of the material.” They have also been heavily crowdsourcing funds to finance the project and take the initial idea from concept to the production phase.

SRL uses all-natural materials taken from seaweed and other plants to make a clear membrane thick enough to hold water but thin enough to easily bite through. The edible water pods can be eaten whole after peeling the outer layer of the package. The sea weed membrane is not used to hold only water; it can also be used to hold any liquid from sauces to cosmetics and drinks in different flavours and colours.
Here's the best part, either used or unused, the pods degrades within 4 to 6 weeks compared to the hundreds of years it will take a plastic.

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Producing one pod creates 5x less CO2 than producing a plastic bottle, requires 9x less energy and can be made for just 2 cents.

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Though it may be a while before water pods replace plastic water bottles entirely, Skipping Rocks Lab have already trialled their innovative solution at some stores and restaurants in London and also made their pods available at the 2019 London Marathon.

Sources:

1. https://emagazine.com/edible-water-pods/
2. https://www.elitereaders.net/edible-water-pods-could-soon-replace-water-bottles/amp/
3. https://www.notpla.com