PPB December 2020

in perspective, that’s roughly one bottle for all the residents of California and Texas—and millions of them sadly wind up littering local communities, roadways and water channels. There have been many efforts taken to reduce the amount of waste from plastic water bottles. But one Culver City, California, start-up is tackling the challenge head-on by manufacturing water bottles that are 100-percent biodegradable, with potential to truly reinvent the single-use market. Cove will conduct a soft launch of its product this month and release the bottles in stores in January 2021. The bottles are made using a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymer, a naturally occurring microorganism made by plants, animals and humans, and is produced similarly to the fermentation process of beer or yogurt. The PHA used in Cove bottles is made from food waste, and the bottles are biodegradable, compostable and FDA-approved. They are designed to decompose naturally and are estimated to take five years, at most, to fully break down, a process that’s based on surrounding conditions such as temperature and level of precipitation. On the contrary, ordinary plastic water bottles take about 450 years to biodegrade, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, during which harmful toxins are emitted into the environment. Cove is not the first company to manufacture biodegradable water bottles for consumer retail, but it is, perhaps, the first to do so using these materials. Paper Water Bottle, a start-up that was funded through KickStarter, produces a bottle made from a pulp mixture of bamboo, husks, bulrush, wheat straw and sugar cane, and the cap is made using 100-percent recycled resin. VeganBottle, manufactured by Chaniers, France- based Lyspackaging, is 100-percent biodegradable and recyclable, and made from a plant-based bioplastic. Raepak, a company in Norwich, England, manufactures a biodegradable water bottle made from a polymer sugarcane plastic. This new product introduced by Cove brings another plastic alternative to the U.S market, offering a greener alternative to consumers, and leading the way in greener consumer products— and one that may encourage further innovations and environmental action as well. WATER COOLER ‘Around e World And Back Again’ International airlines encourage customers to travel by offering “flights to nowhere.” Has the pandemic given you the travel bug? Are you itching to take a trip to a faraway destination, a nearby place, or anywhere, really, to “escape” the new normal of spending more time at home? For those eager travelers who don’t want to take too much time off work or away from friends and family, or who aren’t fully comfortable with the traveling experience post-pandemic, some airlines are offering an especially unusual service dubbed “flights to nowhere”—and it’s exactly what it sounds like. The best part? You won’t even need to pack a bag. Unique experiences that have taken flight so far include a three- hour roundtrip sightseeing tour from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Taiwan airline EVA Air. The flight, which retailed for $180 USD, took off on August 8 to commemorate Father’s Day in Taiwan, and was held aboard a Hello Kitty Dream Jet—appropriately adorned on its sides with characters from the children’s cartoon. Guests were treated to a meal made by a three-Michelin- star chef as the plane flew over local landscapes. On October 10, Australian airline Qantas took 150 passengers aboard a seven-hour scenic flight on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner—which has the largest windows of any commercial aircraft—that flew over popular sites, like the Great Barrier Reef. According to The Washington Post, the 134 Phansak / Shutterstock.com continued on page 82 80 | DECEMBER 2020 | THINK