It is a well known fact that plastic bottles, which take hundreds of years to decompose, are harmful to our environment. But efforts by environmentalists to encourage consumers to switch to water fountains or reusable bottles, have not been very effective. The U.S. alone utilizes over 50 million plastic bottles annually, 80% of which end up in landfills.

To try to stop so much plastic, Rodrigo García González, Pierre Paslier, and Guillaume Couche have been working on a solution, water encased inside an edible coat made using seaweed. All the customer has to do to quench his/her thirst is poke a hole in the surface layer or, better still, pop the entire blob into the mouth.

The creators, who have been working on the Ooho bubble since 2014, use a simple two-step culinary process called spherification (shaping a liquid into spheres) to create the resourceful container. They begin by putting a frozen ball of water or juice into a calcium chloride solution. This helps form a jelly like layer around the liquid. The ball is then soaked in a solution made from brown algae extract. This creates a second layer, helping reinforce the bubble so that the water or juice does not leak. In addition to saving the environment, the biodegradable packaging costs just two cents each, making it cheaper to make than plastic. But the ball will fully biodegrade in 4-6 weeks if left unconsumed.

click here for a quick video of an “Ooho! Experience”