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M Y C E L I U M  B O T T L E

Life Cycle Analysis

Finding New Alternatives To Plastic Bottles

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Project Objective

The life cycle analysis project was assigned for the development of an Eco-friendly alternative to an existing product. This alternative had to be a realistic solution to the problem we define. Through simple research we found the plastic epidemic that our world faces. From this we found the immense plastic build up in our ocean and wanted to develop something innovative to help combat this problem. So we took a look around our daily life and saw the many water bottles that people drank everyday. We decided that we would develop a new alternative to plastic water bottles and make sure it is Eco-friendly and biodegradable. Through some research, we were able to find the new use of mycelium. Mycelium is a thread like fungi that had recently been used to package goods instead of cardboard boxes. We discovered that we could shape these mycelium bi-products into bottle shaped containers and put a food friendly coating inside to store water. From the designs and aspirations that came to be, i developed a solid works model of our product which is shown below.

Design Details

Each bottle is made into shape by compression moulding mycelium sheets. The box that the bottles are carried in are also made from mycelium. The reusable bottle platform is made from aluminum and the hose is made from a cotton fabric. The biggest reason of why plastic waters are so widely used is their convenience. They are easy to pick up and use throughout your day. The bottles are also pre-filled and sold in big packs. We wanted to keep this same principle in our MyBottles and therefore decided to make them fill up automatically. Much similar to plastic water bottles, the MyBottles are sold in back of 24 and pre-filled. The user can grab however many bottles they want at the start of their day without having to do any work. Then, at the end of the day, they just have to place the bottle on the pad and the water bottle will automatically fill up. This is made possible by the one way nozzle located at the bottom of the bottle. Also, the hose can be attached directly to a sink or can be connected to a water pipe. Below is an in-depth life cycle analysis of the cost, ecological and consumer benefits of why a My Bottle should be used instead of a plastic bottle.

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