How Far Will We Go For a Bottled Water Alternative?

How Far Will We Go For a Bottled Water Alternative?

How Far Will We Go For a Bottled Water Alternative?

Most people struggle to drink the recommended two liters of water a day because, let’s face it, that’s not always a top priority. With so much on our minds each day, it’s only human to place ‘drinking enough water’ on the bottom of our to-do lists. However, by making drinking water so readily available these days, we start running out of excuses to stay appropriately hydrated.

Currently, there are multiple ways of getting water on the go, whether it’s the drinking fountain, a reusable bottle, or bottled water. With all these options to choose from, bottled water is by far the most harmful to the environment.

Let’s take a step back. Drinking water can come from two sources: tap or bottled. In the past few decades, bottled water usage has been alarmingly high, mostly due to how it’s falsely advertised as the most safe and convenient option. But as long as your tap water meets all the regulations under the Safe Drinking Water Act, it should be just as safe and taste no different than bottled water. In fact, some of the largest bottled water distributors use municipal water as their source, according to the American Water Works Association (AWWA).

As time goes on, the damage that bottled water inflicts on the environment is slowly becoming a forefront in our minds but the convenience of it is too good to erase. The experts at the award winning Skipping Rocks Labs recently put their heads together and created an edible water ‘blob’ called the Ooho.

Allow us to explain. Standing out as the water bottle you can actually eat, the Ooho is a circular ball of water with a seaweed and calcium chloride exterior. By piercing the membrane, you are able to hydrate your body just as well as bottled water allows but meant in a smaller, more environmentally friendly method. Below is what can be summarized as the pros and cons of this invention:

Pros Cons

- Biodegradable
- Created to address and reduce our plastic pollution problem
- Can be cheaply made in your own home
- The casing is edible

- Not reusable or re-sealable
- Could pop open on its own
- Messy and can get all over your hands if not held properly
- Some people get freaked out by the casing’s material


Clearer skin, headache reliever, weightloss contributor. The benefits of drinking the right amount of water are enough to justify the means of getting water on the go. Bottled water is wasteful and damaging to the environment but the convenience of it isn’t lost on us. However flawed some people consider the Ooho, including its un-pronounceable name, you have to admit that it’s a step in the right direction. In the words of Tom Preston, “Innovation is taking two things that already exist and putting them together in a new way.”