If you haven't heard yet, packaging innovation has made a huge leap towards sustainability recently. And I'm not talking about using less plastic, I'm talking about using no plastic at all!
It was just announced that Stonyfield has teamed up with WikiFoods to bring Stonyfield Frozen Yogurt Pearls to select Whole Foods stores in and around the Cambridge, MA area to test market them. WikiFoods, Inc. was launched by David Edwards, a bioengineer at Harvard in June of 2012. The natural and edible skin is made of electrostatic gel, natural food particles, nutritive ions and a polysaccharide. You can see some examples of WikiPearl™ products in the video below and hear more about their collaboration with Stonyfield.
And that's not the only sustainable food & beverage packaging story I've seen lately. I was completey mesmerized by Ooho, a double walled membrane made out of brown algae and calcium chloride. Three industrial design students from Spain have just won a Lexus Design Award for their water blob. However, they might need to solve the messiness factor (as shown below) before they go to market. Could these spherical membranes one day replace our plastic water bottle habit? Apparently, the process is fairly simple and inexpensive to create. They even have hopes that this will catch on as a DIY project. Ooho is showcasing their new design right now during Milan Design Week from April 8-14.
Of course, there's still some waiting to be done before you might see any of these products at a store near you. In the mean time, you can try the WikiPearl Co-Creator here.
Photo credit: WikiFoods, Inc.