Recently, my 10-year old came across a video showcasing edible water balls. I have to preface this by saying my 10-year old is extremely passionate about the environment, and needless to say she was intrigued, as was I. So we read more…
Here’s the story in a nutshell. In 2013, Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Pierre Paslier cofounded Skipping Rocks Lab with an intention to make sustainable packaging, or, in their own words, packing that disappears. Their sustainable packaging, called NOTPLA, is made from a combination of seaweed and other plant extracts. This packaging is edible or can biodegrade in about 6 weeks. They developed equipment to create With a goal to replace single use plastic, especially bottles, they partnered with the London Marathon, replacing about 30,000 plastic bottles with their edible water balls, called Ooho Water. In April 2019, as NOTPLA expanded beyond just Ooho, they gave their startup the name – NOTPLA
Marathon organizers across the world face this dilemma race after race – how do we provide adequate hydration while at the same time reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. Some marathons alternate between bottle and cup at hydration stations. Either way, the footprint on the environment doesn’t go away. Ooho Water is a great way to replace plastic bottles at events such as marathons.
Whether this will scale into other use cases remains to be see. For sure, we will be watching this space very closely.
Here is a video that gives you an idea of the versatility of the product.