The first plastic bottle ever produced on the earth is still here.  Eighty billion more are created every year.  Eighty percent are not recycled. It takes eight hundred years for plastic to break down.  So what is the answer to the world’s epidemic of plastic water bottles?

Here are some of the most exciting and current solutions.

Ooho, An edible bite-size orb made of an algae-based gel that you can create and flavor yourself is the answer at the seaweed-tech startup, Skipping Rocks Lab in London, oohowater.com.   Through the process of molecular gastronomy, “Sperification,” encapsulates the water in a double membrane.  Once it’s empty it can be eaten for the additional nutritional value seaweed provides.

At the paperwaterbottle.com  company their “pulp exoskeleton” bottles are made out of plant fiber; a combination of wheat straw, bamboo husks, sugar cane, and/or bulrush to create an eco-friendly bottle. The bottles have unlimited function, shape and aesthetic capabilities.  Think of flask-shaped bottles suitable for carrying in backpacks, briefcases, and handbags.  Paper water bottles are 100% compostable.

A biodegradable water bottle made of non-toxic algae is the creation of Ari Jonsson, a student at the Iceland Academy of Arts. The bottle is made of agar, which comes from the cell walls of red algae.   When combined with water it forms a moldable gel that can be shaped into anything such as a bottle. The empty is easily compostable.

The scientists at drinkcove.com have created a water bottle made entirely of biodegradable material.   The bottle is made of PHA, “a naturally occurring biopolymer; “more like a flower or orange peel than plastic.”  The container can be used until its use-by-date at which point putting it in the compost bin starts the degrading process.

The family behind Montana Private Reserve, customlabelwater123.com  is on a mission to help reduce the tons of plastic in our landfills.  They use a water bottle created by www.reverteplastics.com  which has OXO-biodegradability; meaning the bottling material breaks down in an environmentally friendly manner.

Choose Water ch2oose.co.uk  is a Scotland based company that has created a 100% plastic-free, biodegradable water bottle made of sustainable materials.  Its alloy cap rusts down, the lining is made from natural materials, and the outer casing and labeling are made from 100% recycled paper.