Recycling might be the noble thing to do, but ultimately, the entire process is still a bit long-winded before objects can be made reusable. Dr. David Edwards of Harvard University, the creator of inhalable chocolate and aerosol caffeine, thinks we can render recycling a thing of the past altogether… by making edible containers and bottles.
Edwards has created a new packaging material, dubbed “WikiCells,” from a natural food membrane supported by electrostatic forces. The membranes are water-resistant, so they can take the shape of any liquid container over long durations of time. One container creation thus far has been an orange-flavored membrane storing orange soda.
While Edwards hopes to one day have a commercially available WikiCell Machine, the main hurdle will be the warehousing of these edible containers. The ugly reality is more often than not, plastic containers protect us not just from germs, but shit like, well, rat shit.
[via Gizmag]
