Biodegradable Water Bottles Made From Algae

If you are looking to get rid of all of your plastic water bottles, then there may be a new unique solution involving a material made from algae. As first reported on by Dezeen, Ari Jónsson a design student, has combined red algae with water to create the world's first biodegradable water bottle for Design March 2016. You may not be too thrilled about drinking out of a water bottle that has the appearance slime, but if you love the environment, and hate plastic, it's your only option at the moment.

[Image Source: Ari Jónsson]

Obviously, the design is nowhere near to production ready but it does pose a unique solution to the wasteful plastic water bottle industry. There will always be a need for water carrying containers, but plastic water bottles that take upwards of 1000 years to biodegrade are simply not sustainable.

"I read that 50 percent of plastic is used once and then thrown away so I feel there is an urgent need to find ways to replace some of the unreal amount of plastic we make, use and throw away each day," Jónsson told Dezeen. "Why are we using materials that take hundreds of years to break down in nature to drink from once and then throw away?"

When there is water in the algae bottle the form holds its shape, however once empty it begins biodegrading at a rapid rate.

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[Image Source: Ari Jónsson]

The water stored inside the bottle will be completely safe to drink with no chemicals leached from plastic. It should be noted however that if you store the bottle for a long time, it may absorb some taste from the algae material. This is the perfect solution for those ultra-concerned with what they store their food in, but for most, it is not a good enough solution yet.

Plastics and other chemicals in our lives could be taking tolls on our health without us knowing. For this reason, many are pushing for further studies and increased awareness of chemicals in our daily lives. This biodegradable water bottle could mark a starting point in the bio-organics container industry.

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