Edible water bottles are here and just helped the London Marathon “save a ton”
It was a milestone for Marathon runners in London on Monday. The event is making worldwide news, but the news isn’t all about the runners. It’s about the edible and biodegradable water capsules handed out along the 26.2-mile route. A new product could help eliminate more than 215,000 plastic water bottles per marathon.
“The marathon is a milestone … we are hoping we will demonstrate that it can be used at scale in the future,” Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, one of the startup’s founders, told CNN.
We’ve all heard that biodegradable plastics made of plant material are in the works, but now we can confirm the exciting product is on the market.
Skipping Rocks Lab handed out their humorously named “Ooho!” edible water bottles made of natural seaweed membrane. According to the company, they are 100% edible, vegan, and allergen free.
Runners could bite into the pouches and drink the Lucozade Sport Orange drink inside. You can eat the whole thing. Or if you prefer, the bags can be tossed away without guilt. The pouches biodegrade in six weeks. Compare that to 450 years for a typical plastic water bottle!
From the looks of it, the Ooho! bottles were an instant hit with the runners. (See the video below)
We are at mile 23 Of London Marathon handing out Lucozade Sport orange in Oohos! GOOD LUCK to all runners! We can’t wait to cheer you all on!! Any of our followers who are running? #londonmarathon #VMLM #madetomove pic.twitter.com/sFdTTWRjIj
— Ooho! (@OohoWater) April 28, 2019
Marathons can typically be messy events, as runners toss plastic water bottles along the route. Those bottles have to be collected and recycled. This year, there were still plastic water bottles available along the way but event organizers committed to only use bottles partially made from recycled plastic.
In a fight against #Plastic waste, @OohoWater takes over #LondonMarathon! https://t.co/qENjjWVEmX
— Julia Vol (@Julia__Vol) April 14, 2019
The seaweed membrane is reportedly tasteless and odorless.
Rodrigo Garcia, the co-founder says the seaweed used for the product is readily available, growing faster than other plants.
“It’s one of the resources that is the most abundant. The seaweed that we use, it grows up to one meter per day. Can you imagine something growing that fast?” said Garcia. “It doesn’t use farmland. It doesn’t compete with food crops. You don’t need fertilizer. You don’t need to put water on it,” he continued.
Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez founder of @OohoWater – an alternative to plastic packaging – hands out edible samples containing water. The membrane, made from seaweed, is completely tasteless and odourless @designindaba #DesignIndaba2019 pic.twitter.com/qDFQw6LhG8
— Tom Banks (@1TomBanks) February 28, 2019
In fact, Garcia says that if his company were to replace all the water bottles on the planet, they would only consumer 0.02 percent of the available seaweed on Earth.
See the video from Reuters below:
Ooho! are like edible water balloons. Who wouldn’t love that? The company is also exploring the possibility of using packets filled with sauces for restaurants.
This innovation is truly exciting! Biodegradable plastics are here and we couldn’t be more ready.
See more from Now This below:
This edible water bottle is helping runners eliminate plastic waste pic.twitter.com/kz4KdUa9sM
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 22, 2019
Featured image: Screenshot via Reuters
