When you think of algae, you're probably imagining the scummy greenish-brownish stuff that collects along river rocks and on still ponds. It's slimy, and kind of gross, and you certainly wouldn't think about drinking any water that has contact with it, right?
Well, don't be so quick to dismiss algae. It actually does a lot for you! It's used in foods as a natural additive, and produces a huge amount of the oxygen we need to survive. And soon, it might be tagging along with you in your car or purse as you go about your day.
That's because Icelandic product designer Ari Jónsson is developing a way for algae to take the place of plastic, a petroleum product, for water bottles.
The bottles would look and function just like the plastic water bottles we use today, but with one major difference: they're biodegradable!
Unlike a plastic bottle, these bottles are made of algal, an algae product — and they'll break down in a way that doesn't hurt the environment or add to the already frighteningly large amounts of garbage produced by humans.
Our environment is fragile and desperately needs our protection. To alleviate the stress, designers, scientists, artists, and architects are working to reimagine how we interact with the Earth.
They're designing everything from water bottles like these to massive residential structures that work with the environment instead of against it, and what they've come up with is really amazing.
Check out the future of water bottles below, and let us know what you think we should do to help the environment in the comments!
[H/T: BoredPanda, Dezeen]
Ari Jónsson is a student at the Iceland Academy of the Arts who created this project for the 2016 DesignMarch festival in Reykjavik. He was inspired after learning about the staggering amount of plastic waste produced all over the world, and felt the need to offer a solution.
Jónsson also mentioned that about half of the plastic used worldwide is only used once and then discarded.
"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," he told Dezeen.
And his sense of urgency is not unfounded. The average plastic water bottle takes up to 1,000 years to completely decompose.
In the U.S. alone, in a single year, 50 billion bottles of water are consumed. That's a lot of plastic just lying around.
"Why are we using materials that take hundreds of years to break down in nature to drink from once and then throw away?" Jónsson asked.
So he began experimenting with different materials that could possibly replace plastic in water bottles and maybe other food containers, as well.
He ended up using agar, a powdered substance made from algae. He mixed it with water to form a jelly-like material, and poured it into a mold.
So long as the algal bottle is filled with water, it will retain its shape, and it will not dissolve.
But when the bottle is empty, it begins to decompose, as you see in these photos.
And because the algae is all-natural, any water held in it is completely safe to drink — you could even eat the bottle, if you were so inclined!
This is only one of the many experiments involving algae that has appeared in the past few years.
Algae and seaweed have been used in architecture, textiles, and even as energy sources. It really could be the material of the future!
It's pretty amazing that something as humble as algae can have the potential to do so much!
SHARE this incredible scientific breakthrough with everyone you know who needs to stay hydrated at all times!
