Article Written By: Sungwoo Choi
On the date of Sunday,28 April 2019, in London, England, the first ever seaweed pouches were utilized to compensate plastic bottles while running.
More than 40,000 runners competed in the London Marathon. As they approached the 23-mile checkpoint they were handed out edible water pouches. The race organizers were aspiring to overcome the immense amount of plastic waste generated by the marathon. Specifically, they hoped to decrease approximately 200,000 of plastic bottle use. The pods are revolutionary due to the fact that they will biodegrade within six weeks if they are not consumed. This is a meaningful development from the 450 years that takes for regular plastic bottles to disintegrate.
The startup is working to advance machines to develop technology, which will eventually lead to the mass production of these unprecedented capsules. Doing so will significantly support the world to battle against the most urgent environmental difficulties. The use of water pouches was put into action as there were roughly a million plastic bottles wasted in last year’s London Marathon. Additionally, according to the study published in 2017, only 9% of the 8300 million metric tons of plastics that were produced were recycled. Another 12% of the plastics were burnt prompting a tremendous amount of environmental deterioration. The remaining 79% has been sent to landfills for inappropriate discard or left alone to gradually make its way into the oceans.
The usage of water pods are not only advantageous for the environment yet also propitious for the runners as they run; "For recreational runners, I think the time wasted from drinking from a cup is just a matter of seconds - but for elite runners a couple of seconds might mean the difference between winning and losing," stated Harald. The use of water pods will undoubtedly assist the environment as we move on to the future.
Bibliography (MLA 8 FORMAT):
Website Citations:
Website 1:
Kottasová, Ivana. “Seaweed Pouches Will Replace Thousands of Plastic Bottles at the London Marathon.” CNN, Cable News Network, 27 Apr. 2019, edition.cnn.com/2019/04/26/business/london-marathon-seaweed-water-bottles/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1yQZ1moyabUtm2e47WZQ-yjpg_Akip_k6i9JBbCkLr9YgmhuU2vIW0IKA.
Website 2:
Nace, Trevor. “London Marathon Runners Were Handed Seaweed Pouches Instead Of Plastic Bottles.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 29 Apr. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2019/04/29/london-marathon-runners-were-handed-seaweed-pouches-instead-of-plastic-bottles/#55c8f75b2ba2.
Photo Citations:
Photo 1:
Lewis, Sophie. “Thousands of Seaweed Pods Will Replace Single-Use Plastics at the London Marathon.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 27 Apr. 2019, www.cbsnews.com/news/london-marathon-thousands-of-seaweed-pods-will-replace-single-use-plastics/.