Runners in a half-marathon in London on March 1 might be a little confused at the water stations, where instead of getting water in a plastic cup or bottle, they'll be handed an edible¹ water-filled pod. The package, which is also compostable, is made from seaweed and plant extracts. You simply bite the corner off and drink.

 

 

"What we want to do is have a bulletproof solution—regardless of where it ends up, our packaging will not create negative consequences," says Pierre-Yves Paslier, cofounder of Notpla, the startup that makes the packaging. "If nature can deal with it if it ends up in the wrong place, that's the ultimate kind of protection."

 

 

Paslier, a former packaging engineer at L'Oréal, began working on the concept along with designer Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez in 2013 while they were studying innovation design engineering at Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art. Seven years later, it's no longer a student project but a viable² business. After raising more than $1 million in a crowdfunding campaign last year, the company has just raised its first VC-backed "seed plus" round of more than $5 million.

 

 

The designers used a technique from molecular³ gastronomy⁴ to create the package—if you dip a sphere of ice in a mixture of calcium⁵ chloride and brown algae⁶ extract, an edible membrane⁷ forms around the ice, holding everything in place as the ice melts back to room temperature.

 

 

A small version of the package is designed to break open inside your mouth. "It's a bit like a cherry tomato," says Paslier. "You put it in your cheek and bite on it. It explodes, so it's quite a surprising experience."

 

 

The startup partnered with the Scottish whisky brand Glenlivet last year to make a "glassless cocktail⁸" capsule that customers can imbibe⁹ along with whisky. The seaweed coating, which is tasteless, can either be eaten or composted.

 

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