Making Edible Water Pods at Home: A Fun and Sustainable Alternative to Plastic Bottles

Edible water pods seem like an idea straight out of a science fiction novel. Shocker alert: this food innovation has been around since 2014. Imagine yourself gulping down packaged water on a summer afternoon, and being able to eat the bottle too. 

The described product is not something bizarre, as a commercial variant featured prominently during the London Marathon in 2019. The upside, according to edible package advocates, is its potential to nip the global plastic waste challenge.

While popular, edible water bottles are still struggling to catch on, and most people still gawk in astonishment at first sight. However, get ready to learn how to whip up this sustainable water packaging at home. You’ll also learn about its benefits over consuming water in plastic packages. 

What Are Edible Water Pods? 

Pierre-Yves Paslier and Rodrigo García González were probably not the first visionaries to conceive the idea of edible water bottles. However, they took action and developed the first water pod prototypes in 2013. González and Paslier were both graduate engineering students at Imperial College London at the time. Not wanting this idea to die in the lab, the duo floated a startup. The company was called Skipping Rock Lab, and the founders promptly started working on making the edible water pods a commercial product. 

Probably for branding, the company would later be called Notpla and the flagship water pod “Ooho!” The founders of Notpla were keen on reducing plastic waste and drew inspiration from nature. Then, they found seaweed and some other plants with the potential to hold water without leaking. 

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How Do Edible Water Packages Work? 

The production of eco-friendly water packaging may look complex. However, its making can be easy. Indeed, you can make DIY water pods in your kitchen, with the right tools and materials. 

The outer edible membrane of water pods is a complex of sodium alginate and calcium chloride. The sodium alginate is usually obtained from seaweed, and the pod’s jelly-like film is an equally natural, edible and biodegradable material.

For commercial producers of seaweed water pods, potable water is first frozen into balls of a desirable size. Subsequently, the frozen balls are dipped in a bath of sodium alginate solution, and later treated with calcium chloride. The reaction between sodium alginate and calcium chloride creates a film that is strong enough to hold the iced water after it melts. The film is also tender enough to break when the edible water pods are placed in the mouth. The consumer can either choose to eat the film or discard it for biodegradation. If discarded in nature, the Notpla research team claims that Ooho’s film degrades in one and a half months, compared to regular plastics’ 4800 months.   

DIY Recipe & Equipment Requirement for Making Edible Water Bottles 

Now, it’s time to demystify how to make edible water bottles. You may not have the sophisticated equipment of companies making commercial edible water bottles. However, most of the items you need to bid plastic water bottles goodbye are within arm’s reach. 

You don’t need to visit the beach to collect seaweed before starting your sodium alginate water recipe. Instead, it is possible to order food-grade sodium alginate and calcium lactate (an organic alternative to calcium chloride) from e-commerce stores like Amazon. It is safe to assume that the average home has potable water. 

In addition, you will need two bowls, a whisk, a small kitchen scale and a herb spoon; items readily available in most kitchens. If you want bigger edible water pods, use a bigger scoop. 

So, here are easy-to-follow steps for your DIY sodium alginate water recipe:

1. In one of the small bowls, mix one gram of sodium alginate powder with one cup of water.
2. Whisk the mixture thoroughly for about 10 minutes; use a hand mixer if one is available. Foams, similar to those that develop when whisking eggs, may develop during the mixing. Let the bowl sit for about 5 minutes until all the bubbles disappear.
3. Next, prepare a mixture of calcium lactate and water in another bowl. Two and a half grams of the powder to two cups of water should do the trick. Also, stir this mixture until the calcium lactate completely dissolves in the water. 
4. Once the mixtures in the two bowls are ready, scoop up some of the sodium alginate solution with your spoon and gently drop it into the bowl containing the calcium lactate solution. 
5. Almost immediately, the pod forms. You can then scoop out the pod and rinse it in a third bowl containing plain water for rinsing the film’s outer surface.
6. Avoid placing too many pods in the calcium lactate solution at a time, as the pods can stick together. That stickiness is the same reason for rinsing the edible water pods in a third bowl. 

Environmental Benefits and Limitations of Edible Water Bottles  

So far, it is easy to see that eco-friendly water packaging is a step forward in hacking the single-use plastic waste problem. Also, DIY biodegradable bottles and other edible packaging are environmentally friendly. Even if the consumer chooses not to ingest an edible water bottle, it degrades without leaving a visible trace.

However, it is not all roses for seaweed water pods. There are still a few thorns that molecular gastronomy drinks may struggle with. One, many of these DIY biodegradable bottles and the commercial water pods have a short shelf life. Edible water pods are particularly fragile, and there are concerns about hygienic handling. You know, having someone hand you a water pod that goes directly in the mouth, without knowing where that hand has been. Such hygiene concerns seldom come up with plastic water bottles.

Finally, there’s also the issue of limits in the commercial scalability of the edible water bottle. Take Notpla’s Ohoo as an example; it has gained international acclaim since 2019, and some people remain unaware of it. 

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Creative Uses of Edible Water Packages  

Edible water pods would be a great sustainability conversation starter. Serve at festivals, beach parties, and zero-waste cafes, and that act alone will spread the word. It will open people’s eyes to the urgency of the plastic waste problem. 

In a recent social media post, Notpla’s co-founder excitedly shared that seaweed-based packaging “quietly replaced more than 350,000 single-use plastic items” at a Coldplay Wembley concert. 

Some other companies that have an interest in molecular gastronomy are infusing water pods with fruit juices and flavored drinks.  

Edible water pods are definitely going places, with continued global advocacy for sustainable innovations. The commercial absence of brands providing edible bottles in your locale is not a hindrance to using seaweed water pods. You can create gourmet water pods by following the guide highlighted in this piece. It’s fun and empathetic to the climate.

One small sip could be a giant leap for reducing plastic waste.