Edible bottle
In the week gone by, perhaps the most environment friendly news in a long time, went almost unnoticed.
Till about 35-40 years ago, people were happy drinking water directly from taps. If at home, a small filter was fitted to the tap and water was filled into earthen pots or steel containers. If such filter was not available, the cleanest fine cloth that mother could find, was tied to the tap and the water filtered through it. And if you were on a tour, whatever water offered by hotels, was fine for drinking. If playing in the garden, children would make do with the water from the garden hose pipe, for quenching their thirst.
But then came the first bottled water and along with it came, huge advertising campaigns on TV. It helped that the bottled water brands were owned by the biggest Multinational Conglomerates. Suddenly the microscopic organisms appeared huge under the microscopes, on TV, or so they were made to appear. And slowly but surely the populace was weaned away from these traditional sources and became hooked to the bottled water. And mind you, it was never ordinary water, it was always mineral water which was thus packed. Different benefits of different minerals, were highlighted on umpteen advertising campaigns.
Now whenever you visit any beautiful tourist place, whether it be a beautiful beach or the cool mountains, what is the first sight at these places? Miles and miles of plastic waste. While majority is plastic bags, there are lots of plastic bottles too. Even previously remote areas like the Himalayas or the ocean depths are teeming with plastic. The less said about the cities and towns, the better. Here it's difficult to find the earth, below the layers of plastic.
Thus it was about time that something revolutionary happened in the research space. That bottled water was here to stay, was a given. People were not going to go back to those good old days.
And then suddenly, this news! A biodegradable bottle has been developed by a postgraduate in the Imperial College of London. It is not exactly a bottle but a globule of biodegradable membrane, jellylike, which is edible, and inside which the drinking water can be held, until the membrane is broken into by teeth. The membrane can either be consumed or thrown off. Throwing it away will not be a burden on Mother Earth, since it will degrade easily under the elements and not stay on for generations like the current water bottles. Thus extremely eco friendly.
So welcome friends to the future, hopefully a more eco friendly one.
Yatindra Tawde
In the week gone by, perhaps the most environment friendly news in a long time, went almost unnoticed.
Till about 35-40 years ago, people were happy drinking water directly from taps. If at home, a small filter was fitted to the tap and water was filled into earthen pots or steel containers. If such filter was not available, the cleanest fine cloth that mother could find, was tied to the tap and the water filtered through it. And if you were on a tour, whatever water offered by hotels, was fine for drinking. If playing in the garden, children would make do with the water from the garden hose pipe, for quenching their thirst.
But then came the first bottled water and along with it came, huge advertising campaigns on TV. It helped that the bottled water brands were owned by the biggest Multinational Conglomerates. Suddenly the microscopic organisms appeared huge under the microscopes, on TV, or so they were made to appear. And slowly but surely the populace was weaned away from these traditional sources and became hooked to the bottled water. And mind you, it was never ordinary water, it was always mineral water which was thus packed. Different benefits of different minerals, were highlighted on umpteen advertising campaigns.
Now whenever you visit any beautiful tourist place, whether it be a beautiful beach or the cool mountains, what is the first sight at these places? Miles and miles of plastic waste. While majority is plastic bags, there are lots of plastic bottles too. Even previously remote areas like the Himalayas or the ocean depths are teeming with plastic. The less said about the cities and towns, the better. Here it's difficult to find the earth, below the layers of plastic.
Thus it was about time that something revolutionary happened in the research space. That bottled water was here to stay, was a given. People were not going to go back to those good old days.
And then suddenly, this news! A biodegradable bottle has been developed by a postgraduate in the Imperial College of London. It is not exactly a bottle but a globule of biodegradable membrane, jellylike, which is edible, and inside which the drinking water can be held, until the membrane is broken into by teeth. The membrane can either be consumed or thrown off. Throwing it away will not be a burden on Mother Earth, since it will degrade easily under the elements and not stay on for generations like the current water bottles. Thus extremely eco friendly.
So welcome friends to the future, hopefully a more eco friendly one.
Yatindra Tawde
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