12-year-old, Madison Checketts from Eagle Mountain, Utah has always loved the beach. When on vacation with her family on the coast of California, she couldn’t turn a blind eye to all the plastics that cluttered her favorite beaches. After researching more about plastic pollution and ways to reduce it, Madison designed a water bottle made of gelatin that is actually edible. She calls it the Eco-Hero.
โThe beach is one of my favorite places to go, and seeing it all trashed up with plastic water bottles, I just felt like this needed to change.โ
Madison started working on her project in October 2021 as part of her elementary school’s science fair.ย Not only did she win first place at the Central Utah STEM Fair, advancing her to the national competition, but she also became one of the 30 finalists at the 2022 Broadcom Masters Competition. There, she was surrounded byย other young inventorsย who designed projects like a remote-controlled robotic hand that could be used in natural disaster situations and a foot-controlled welcome mat that can wirelessly unlock a door to help those with arthritis and other hand conditions.
How does plastic pollution affect the ocean?
The plastic water bottles we see every day at our local stores are actually designed to be thrown out after each use. Americans consume more than 35 billion plastic water bottles annually, and the majority of them are not recycled properly. After being thrown in the trash, plastic water bottles often end up in the ocean.
Plastic pollution harms all marine environments and can become a major threat to marine wildlife. Animals can confuse plastic waste for food, which can make them sick and cause damage to their internal bodies. Depending on environmental conditions and chemical properties, our everyday plastics can release toxic chemicals into the ocean. This not only harms animals, but plants too.
How to Make an Edible Water Bottle:
Checkettsโ relied on a chemical reaction between two common food additivesโa salt called calcium lactate and a natural polymer found in brown algae called sodium alginate. When mixed together, the chemicals create a gel membrane that can trap liquid.
After lots of trial and error, Madison made her final prototype by mixing calcium lactate, xanthan gum, lemon juice, and water in a blender. She froze the calcium lactate solution and then placed it in a sodium alginate solution until a membrane began to form. Once the membrane was fully formed, Madison removed the membrane from the sodium alginate solution and placed it in distilled water to stop the membrane from continuing to form. She let the edible water bottle sit in the fridge submerged in a mixture of lemon juice and water.
During her testing stages, Madison tested various concentrations of calcium lactate, sodium alginate, and xanthan gum to achieve the best results possible. Adding xanthan gum to the calcium lactate solution helped make the membrane stronger, but she says the outer layer and water tasted soapy. To fix this problem, she added a teaspoon of lemon juice to the calcium lactate solution to improve the taste and make it last longer. She came up with the idea to add lemon juice to the water and use it as a preservative for the water bottle from her fifth-grade school science fair project, which focused on keeping strawberries from molding by coating them in lemon juice.
The Eco-Hero: An Edible Water Bottle
The Eco-Hero can hold about three-quarters of a cup of water. The consumer bites a hole at the top of the
membrane, drinks the water inside, and then either eats the membrane or throws it away. In addition to being edible, the Eco-Hero is also biodegradable. Madison says the drink tastes like water with a hint of lemon, and the edible membrane has the texture of a gummy bear and tastes “slightly lemony” when chewed.
Madison says she wants to run more tests to improve the water bottle and make it resealable, stronger, and bigger. She imagines her amazing invention could be used during marathons or races. Overall, she hopes the Eco-Hero encourages people to think sustainably and understand that everyone can make the world a better place.
โIt doesnโt necessarily have to be in a big way. People can still make a difference in the world, even if itโs just in a small way.โ
