The plastic bottles they’re sold in are terrible for the environment.
We know that we need to be drinking plenty of water. It’s important.
One solution is using reusable bottles that you can fill from any nearby taps instead of buying a new bottle each time.
Another solution is much more exciting.
A group of engineers from Skipping Rocks Lab have developed a wonderful thing called The Ooho!. It’s a globe filled water that you can pop in your mouth whole.
Skipping Rocks Labs Staff
The outer shell is made of algae, so it’s edible and biodegradable.
The spheres are created using gelification – a technique used in cooking to turn liquids into gel by adding an edible gelling agent.
The inventors experimented with various spherification techniques, using different ingredients and proportions, before settling on the Ooho final ‘recipe’.
Packaging labels can be added to the Ooho, between the two layers, without adhesive, and are edible too, if they’re made from rice paper, for example.
Meaning there’s no need for packaging or plastic – the globes of water are self-contained and ready to consume.
The team have now created a crowdfunding page to make their creation available to the public, with goals of selling The Ooho! at festival and marathons within the next 12 months.
‘Ooho! is a sustainable packaging alternative to plastic bottles and cups, made from a seaweed extract,’ the group explain on their crowdfunding page.
‘It is entirely biodegradable and so natural you can actually eat it.
‘Ooho sachets are flexible packets of water, drunk by tearing a hole and pouring into your mouth, or consumed whole.
‘Our packaging is cheaper than plastic and can encapsulate any beverage including water, soft drinks, spirits, and even cosmetics.’
Which all sounds brilliant.
Skipping Rocks hasn’t yet announced a retail price for their droplets, but considering they only take a penny each to make, we reckon they’ll be on the cheap side.
A small price to pay to get hydrated and feel all smug about not wrecking the environment, we reckon.
The Ooho sphere has a double gelatinous membrane.
It is made using a mixture of sodium alginate, taken from brown algae, and calcium chloride.
