An engineer is attempting to end plastic bottle pollution using spherification

This is weird yet intriguing, ATS. A Design student by the name of Rodrigo García González has invented a way to get water without a water bottle. He has come up with a technique of encasing water in a membrane that is totally bio-degradable.

The world is facing an acute problem of plastic pollution, and the biggest contributor to the growing menace is plastic bottles used to pack and sell packaged drinking water. Design student Rodrigo García González, who has already made a name for himself by inventing a smart suitcase that follows its owner, has done it again with a water container that doesn't pose a threat to the environment once its contents are consumed.

Rodrigo has come up with a simple technique; make the container edible. He has designed or rather improved upon a technique to encase liquid in a membrane that can be consumed once the water is drunk. In case you are paranoid about eating containers, the membrane is completely biodegradable and can be simply discarded into the wild and it will dissolve a whole lot faster than the plastic bottle.

The technique revolves around the concept of allowing the bottle to take shape as it coalesces around the liquid, instead of creating a bottle and then filling it with water. On a pilot scale, González and his team first took a frozen ball of water and dipped it into a calcium chloride solution, which formed a gelatinous layer. Then, the ball was soaked in another solution made from brown algae extract, which encapsulated the ice in a second squishy membrane to reinforce the entire structure. Keeping the water in the algae solution for long periods of time allows the mold to become thicker and stronger.

The main drawback to this idea so far is transportation of the product; they'll need plastic containers to transport the product(s) which defeats the point of not using plastic. Anyway, I think this advancement is worthy of ATS discussion. What says ATS?

www.inquisitr.com...

edit on 22/9/2014 by ArMaP because: (no reason given)

a reply to: lostbook

Sure, it's biodegradable, but is it safe to drink from it?

From your link:

Rodrigo has come up with a simple technique; make the container edible.

Now, the container contains calcium chloride, brown alga, etc.

I'm all for anything which can reduce pollution, especially plastic. I hate plastic. But I'm not sure about the practical aspect of tiny bubbles squishing around in my pockets.


Anyway, S&F nevertheless, at least this guy tried something. So many people don't even try.

a reply to: lostbook

Well congratulations to him for his efforts and progress on finding a solution. The transportation issue could be resolved by recycling the same containers perhaps. However, although he's made an impressive breakthrough, there's still a way to go before we see an end to those ubiquitous hideous bottles clogging our waterways and oceans.

a reply to: swanne

Thanks. Yes, at least he's trying.

Bottles are reusable. The algae condom is not.

originally posted by: DaRAGE
Bottles are reusable. The algae condom is not.

Condoms aren't reusable?

My kids are smarter than me so I'll have to ask all 12 of them if it's true...

Peace

the membrane is completely biodegradable and can be simply discarded into the wild and it will dissolve a whole lot faster than the plastic bottle.

I can see this getting to lakes and oceans making algae blooms killing most life more or less like this



it happens now with fertilizers, just because you wont see the plastic bottle does not mean is better, having dissolved compounds is actually worse

a reply to: lostbook

I think there are already rigid biodegradable plant based bottles.

I have a better solution for the plastic bottle problem;
Only put water/soda, etc., in glass bottles. Reinstate a return policy, like 15 cents per bottle. They used to do this in my state, then it stopped. We need to go back to this system. I don't wanna carry a water balloon around.

originally posted by: DaRAGE
Bottles are reusable. The algae condom is not.

By the looks of things (discarded plastic bottles everywhere), it doesn't seem too many people re-use their water bottle.