Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Designer Creates a Water Bottle That You Can Eat

Posted by samzenpus on from the eating-trash dept.

Diggester (2492316) writes "Rodrigo García González has been working on the Ooho water bottle for the past few years. The bottle is made out of edible materials, looks like a jellyfish, and has the potential to put an end to the bottled water industry. Inspired by the juice-filled pearls added to bubble tea and the mad-cuisine creations of chef Ferran Adriá, who uses a technique known as sheperification (encasing liquid into edible membranes), García is on his way to revolutionizing the bottled water industry."

23 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. You say sheperification, I say spherification by GrumpySteen · · Score: 2

    Let's call the whole thing off.

  2. Huh? by p51d007 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Ok, the "bottle" can be eaten...but is the "bottle" placed in a sealed box or other container? Or, before use, do you have to sterilize it before use? Plus, not that it is healthy to reuse a water bottle, I see a lot of them being refilled around colleges, businesses, parks etc...

    1. Re:Huh? by nightsky30 · · Score: 2

      BPA Free water bottles are common place now.

      Except that it appears the BPA alternatives they created as replacements can be just as bad, and sometimes worse. http://www.motherjones.com/env...

    2. Re:Huh? by causality · · Score: 4, Informative

      BPA is harmless. It's toxic at levels far above normal intake and concentration in the blood. BPA-Free polycarbonate now uses BPS, which is exactly as toxic as BPA but leaches at a rate 20 times that of BPA. It breaks the toxicity barrier with gusto, so enjoy your new toxic world.

      Water bottles are most often PET or LDPE. These plastics aren't made with BPA or any analog.

      It's not just humans. You may find this interesting to read, as well as this. Male fish are definitely not supposed to have female characteristics.

      As far as humans are concerned, you may find this an interesting read. It indicates that humans may be more susceptible to such endocrine disruptors (like BPA) than previous studied using rodents initially indicated.

      So then we're back to what constitutes good decision-making. Fact: I have no overriding reason why I absolutely must use containers made with BPA. Fact: not only are alternatives to such containers readily available, I also happen to like them better for aesthetic and durability reasons. Conclusion: exposing myself to BPA is an unnecessary risk.

      Still, if you think it's harmless you are free to continue using it. At one time people were told (by doctors no less) that cigarettes were beneficial. Now if I had some dire need (as in my life and well-being absolutely depended on it) to use BPA-containing plastics, perhaps I'd take my chances. But I don't.

      --
      It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
    3. Re:Huh? by Megane · · Score: 2

      Years ago I would get sick a lot such that I had to throw up. I would get horrible sewer odor belches as part of the process. I think it's what people politely call "stomach flu". It took me a long time to realize it was because of the plastic cup I was using.

      But it wasn't because of "diseases", it was because of mildew growing in the damp narrow bit under the lid where it snapped onto the rest of the cup. That stuff WILL make me throw up if I ingest it. It was just too hard to keep clean. So now I normally use a cup with no lid, and make sure it's empty when I leave at the end of the day so it can dry out. And if I'm going to be lazy with the dishes, I make sure to not let them stay wet in the sink for more than a day or so. Once mildew gets in there, not only is it going to make you sick, it's also a pain in the ass to clean off.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  3. Pointless? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How

    can I refill it?
    how do I drink half a unit?
    how do I keep the outside clean enough to eat?

    1. Re:Pointless? by shadowrat · · Score: 5, Informative

      I think edible implies that it's rapidly biodegradable. You are not commanded to eat it. You can throw it away, and if some enterprising sea turtle eats it, it's not big deal.

    2. Re:Pointless? by Kiwikwi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      you're not supposed to refill plastic water bottles

      Yes, there was a Danish study of this. A repeatedly refilled water bottle has a much higher level of bacteria etc. than tap water.

      It's still cleaner than regular bottled water, though.

      Turns out, all that bottled water sitting still at room temperature for months before purchase doesn't do anything for the water quality. Being a Danish study, all of the above assumes you have clean tap water, of course. YMMV.

    3. Re:Pointless? by kruach+aum · · Score: 2, Informative

      Salt is edible but not bio-degradable.

    4. Re:Pointless? by hodet · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Better yet, for most of the first world, just drink local water. It's idiotic to ship water that comes from a "public source" (aka "the tap") in a city hundreds of miles away.

    5. Re:Pointless? by shadowrat · · Score: 2

      Homo sapiens has overcome tougher challenges that that.

  4. Almost there by lagomorpha2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm still waiting for someone to invent a reusable water bottle. Then the bottled water industry will really be finished.

    1. Re:Almost there by CastrTroy · · Score: 2

      I really don't understand how the bottled water industry has become so big. Obviously there is a need for stores to sell bottled water, as we can't always have water on us, but I think it's gotten a little out of hand. When I'm going out for the day, or doing some kind of exercise, I almost always bring a reusable water bottle with me. If I'm not exercising and only going out for a few hours, I can get by without drinking anything until I return home. My main reason for all this is simply the price difference. I can't believe that people would rather spend $1 on a bottle of water then fill it up from their own tap for less than a penny.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    2. Re:Almost there by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Funny

      You know if you take the position that people who can't do what you can must therefore be useless and lame, then that means the only things that you can do just barely require mediocrity.

      The thing is, anyone who can read and follow instructions can install an under-sink water filter. It's not fucking rocket surgery. The only people who can't do it are people who have been convinced that they can't do it, or people with no arms. Even some of them could probably manage it, but I'll go ahead and accept that they are probably in the minority.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. Contamination by Scutter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, for the bottle to be edible, it's going to have a removable, non-edible outer wrapping to protect it from contamination during the shipping, handling, and sales process. That means you've just moved the problem one layer out. You're still going to be generating waste.

    --

    "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
    1. Re:Contamination by KingOfBLASH · · Score: 4, Informative

      From TFA the technique is already in use with some yogurt. You buy a box of yogurt "balls" that are edible, flavored, and filled with yogurt. When you pack your lunch for school or work you simply grab a ball of yogurt out of the box instead of a yogurt in an individual plastic container. Presumably the box is easier to recycle then the plastic containers.

      This is interesting in the sense that it generates LESS waste and the waste it generates is biodegradable. The "container" is something from brown algae so I guess you could just compost the thing, much like an eggshell...

  6. Not merely 'not completely perfect'. by Junta · · Score: 4, Informative

    The current concept is extremely far from being even slightly practical..

    -It's uselessly tiny
    -They can't make a video where someone manages to drink from it without spilling it all over the place.
    -It's so fragile that it can't reasonably be used on its own.
    -It costs 33% the cost of a gigantic bottle to produce, but contains far less than 33% of the volume of water. Cost per unit of water is way high before ignoring how a plastic bottle can be re-used.

    Basically the only thing it has going for it is that it will break down nearly instantly in trash. The problem is we already have materials from which we *can* make a water bottle from that in fact would probably work better than this concept that already can be friendly enough to the environment. The problem is they still aren't practical and can't be used because they lack the durability.

    This concept is a warm fuzzy with zero value over the current possibilities. It doesn't merely have 'kinks' to work out before it can be used, it's just fundamentally flawed as a concept.

    Bottled drinks are a problem, but this is not going to provide a solution.

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  7. Re:But why... by Charliemopps · · Score: 2

    Yes there is, it just delays having to deal with that waste by a few hours.

  8. Re:Needs edible cofee cups by pjt33 · · Score: 2

    It's supposed to say sherparification: it's based on the same principle as getting a Nepalese guide to carry your water.

  9. How much did they pay you, Slashdot? by kheldan · · Score: 2

    Is Slashdot now a shilling-for-hire website?
    This is not going to kill the bottled water industry, it's not going to do anything, it's some sort of joke at best and rediculous at worst. You'd have to package the damned thing in order to ship them to stores and the packaging would cancel out the lack of a plastic bottle. Instead of zero-calorie water you're drinking, now there's some weird substance containing it that you're supposed to eat? Who the hell would want that, people who buy bottled water want water, not some weird 'alginate' snack! What about this 'alignate'? Since it's edible, won't it also have a shelf life? Won't it go bad long before the water it's containing and have to be discarded? Isn't that also kind of stupid in and of itself? So far as 'solutions looking for a problem' this scores pretty high, even if I personally think that bottled water is a scam and people should just get their own refillable bottle instead.

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
  10. Re:But why... by ericloewe · · Score: 2

    Or a few minutes, depending on just how edible the thing is...

  11. Re:huh by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...

    I would have linked to their website, but it's a fucking Flash-only blob.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  12. Re:huh by spazdor · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Because apparently everyone thinks the only useful feature of a bottle is "lets you hold liquids in your hand."

    The whole "resealing" thing is kind of useful, if you can't or don't want to finish your water in one sip.

    There's also the thing where you can handle them with dirty hands and the inside stays sanitary.

    But as long as you don't care about any of the pertinent features of bottles, sure, this is a "bottle."

    --
    DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!