EDIBLE WATER BOTTLES THAT HEAL OUR OCEANS

a hand holding a round edible water bottle with blue skies as a background black text with white background black nup logo

In the US alone 1,500 plastic water bottles are consumed every second. A single plastic bottle takes at least 300 years to break down. This is why companies like Notpla are working on inventing alternatives to plastic water bottles.

Notpla uses brown seaweeds harvested from the ocean. These are made to bubble-like edible packaging for drinking water. You can not only drink the water inside this 'bubble', you can eat the entire packaging as well. Brown seaweed is rapidly renewable and grows up to 1meter per day. Harvesting brown seaweed also contributes to reducing acid levels of our ocean. Our ocean has gradually become acidic due to high CO2 content in our atmosphere. When our seas are too acidic, it makes it difficult for corals, oysters, and clams from thriving.

By turning brown seaweeds into edible alternatives for plastic bottles, we help our ocean by reducing plastic waste and making our ocean waters coral-friendly.

How are these edible bottles made? They are inspired by a culinary technique called spherification. This is when a liquid is frozen and then wrapped in algae-type substances that form an exterior layer that keeps the liquid in. It would not be accurate to say that this technology can completely replace plastic bottles. Plastic bottles have characteristics that still make them irreplaceable. But these water 'bubbles' are a great alternative in certain instances like marathons and festivals where thousands of single-use water bottles are used and disposed of right away. These edible bubbles of water are capable of being manufactured in-site, which makes it better bottles in a number of ways.

No more plastic waste from single-use plastic
No need for storage
The ability to add flavours to the edible bubble itself or keep it tasteless as it is now

Though it isn't a direct alternative to plastic bottles in every way, it definitely has some pro's and con's that make it a viable alternative in certain cases. Today, research is being done to use the same technology to package food and keep it fresh, It may also be used to replace the plastic lining in paper box packaging.

The idea may seem foreign at first but it is not difficult to imaging a future where edible packaging becomes so normal that we effectively reduce our plastic waste. What a wonderful thought. That's one good news for today.

← Older Post Newer Post →

See what people are saying...

For our new years resolution we as a family wanted to use less plastic. I chose the Nup toothbrushes together with my 10 year old daughter and she absolutely loves the designs! Great quality and great design!

Linda Grootberg, Nup Customer

I normally have medium bristles so I was a bit skeptical if this toothbrush would clean my teeth properly. Luckily they do a very good job. Will continue to buy here.

Boris Stein, Nup Customer

Love these!!! I bought Bamboo toothbrushes before from other brands but they look so boring. If I am going to help the earth I might as well do it with a fun design on the product!

Miranda Cheung, Nup Customer

I bought a couple for my whole family. What's great about it is each pack has 4 different designs so each of us (family of 4) tell who owns which. This month indicator is a great plus.

Faith Manuel, Nup Customer

Happy with it. First of all, I I would choose these toothbrushes even if sustainability was not a factor. I was really wasn't sure if I was going to like these, but wanted to check them out, because I'm step-by-step working on reducing my trash impact on the world in every way I can, small and large. Now I'm happy to report that I love the way these feel in my hand and in my mouth. The contour of the bristles is effective in getting good surface contact, and they are just the right balance between firm and gentle. I'm not sure what the bristles are made of, but at least my plastic trash has been reduced in a great way.

Louise Zimmerman, Nup Customer

These toothbrushes are fabulous! I can't speak highly enough about them. Perfect adult size tooth brush ... not too stiff not too soft. The handle fits nicely in your hands. So much nicer than plastic! I highly recommend

Jordan Rhodes, Nup Customer

Quality is good. I am buying this for our whole family! This is will be a life changing moment for us.

Edwin Alexander, Nup Customer

I was looking for an environmentally friendly toothbrush for a while. Although, I was afraid that the bristles would be too soft (which most of the bamboo toothbrushes are), but this one was great!! It was much more sturdy than I expected and I LOVE it. It comes with four toothbrushes so I gave one to my brother and hopefully I can convince my other family members to make the switch.

Haley Fuller, Nup Customer

I have been making an effort to be better not only to my body (using less chemicals, more organic, more natural) and also to the environment. When I realized even my toothbrushes can stick around far past their use causing more waste, I wanted to try something better. I found these toothbrushes and, with this one single purchase, have not only done something small to save the planet (hey, every little bit counts, right?) but also have toothbrushes for a solid year. These are great because they have these nice designs- and using one brush for three months each gets me through the year. I think all of my family is about to switch to these! They're great and I'm very happy to be doing my small part.

Opal Waters, Nup Customer

My entire family of 4 has been using these for about a month and I haven't had one complaint, and as anyone with kids and a husband knows, that means A LOT! Getting used to a wooden handle versus a plastic one takes a little getting used to, but the bamboo is of a high quality and it is not at all abrasive and over all, it is relatively smooth. It's not like you feel as if you are going to get splinters in your moth or that it is going to eventually break in half! My youngest is a toothbrush chewer abuses all of her toothbrushes horribly and this one held up great! I was also really impressed with the bristles. I was expecting them to be pretty tough but they were just the right texture to feel like they were really getting the job done but not hurting the gums at all.

Krista Reeves, Nup Customer