Beverage Startups
Environmentally Friendly Bottle in a Shape of a Paper
You’re in a hurry to work. You scoop up your water bottle from the kitchen bench, but then look at your laptop bag to realize the bottle is not worth the squeeze. Ever had that problem?
Resembling the shape of a piece of paper, the Memo Bottle is a slimline, premium designed reusable water bottle which suitably slides into your favorite carry bag along side your computer, books and valuables.
The memobottle has been designed and created by Jesse Leeworthy and Jonathan Byrt; co-founders based out of Melbourne, Australia and San Diego, USA. Leeworthy and Byrt were both born to artistic fathers (Leeworthy a painter, and Byrt a Potter) and were raised in the coastal town of Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula, about an hour south of Melbourne, Australia. They spent a large chunk of their childhoods amongst the outdoors, and social enterprise. “We basically grew up surfing, hiking, or trying to earn a dollar at the local craft market with whatever talent we had”, says Leeworthy. Leeworthy studied Product Design and Engineering at Swinburne University before working at a prominent Melbourne design consultancy (Tricycle Developments), and co-founding a not-for-profit, whilst Byrt completed a Bachelor of Commerce at Monash University before commencing work at a Big 4 Accounting firm. “We both have very different skill sets. I’m more of a left brain-operator, whilst Jess is right brain in its purest. We’ve always worked well together”, says Byrt.
The memobottle is designed to assist in reducing the number of single-use plastic water bottles that are consumed and disposed of in landfill and waterways. Studies suggest that 1,500 single-use water bottles are consumed every second in the United States. Only 20% of these are recycled. This epidemic hits our hip pocket as well, with bottled water costing approximately 1,400 times more than it does out of the tap, and is often less regulated.
In response to this, many have turned to the more environmentally friendly alternative – reusable bottles. After researching the environmental effects, manufacturing and recycling streams and overall embodied energy within different types of re-usable bottles; the memobottle team made a surprising discovery. Due to the monstrous embodied energy in Aluminum and Stainless Steel products (considering raw material to product) reusable plastic bottles are actually 80% more environmentally friendly than their counterparts. Made from a durable, dishwasher-friendly, recyclable and BPA-free Tritan; the memobottle is a long life re-usable bottle designed to assist in reducing the number of disposable plastic water bottles that are having a devastating effect on our environment. “We’ve always been passionate about the environment. For years we have been focused on creative design that provides environmental remedy whilst improving social convenience”, said Leeworthy
The memobottle is launching on Kickstarter (crowd funding website) on Friday 29th August 2014. The bottle is available in A4, A5, and Letter shaped bottles.
