Material Analysis
The water bubbles consist of 2 main ingredients: calcium lactate and sodium alginate. In addition to these chemicals, the other two components were water and propel. All of these components are edible and safe for the earth. The two chemicals are derived from seaweed kelp. They are commonly used in cooking for creating jelly like desserts. The sodium alginate and calcium lactate undergo reverse spherification to create the shell around the water bubble and it will biodegrade in 6 weeks if they are disposed of instead of eating.
If we were to mass produce it, we would use a large factory to create the water bubbles with machines. To create the water bubbles you begin by adding one gram of sodium alginate to one cup of purified water in a mixing bowl. Next, mix until fully dissolved and let sit for 15 minutes, or until there are no bubbles. In a separate bowl, dissolve 5 grams of calcium lactate in 4 cups of purified water. Take a tablespoon measuring spoon (will achieve the 1 inch diameter) and scoop the sodium alginate solution and drop it gently into the calcium lactate solution. As it is dropped into the sodium alginate bath, it will begin to form a sphere. Repeat this until all of the sodium alginate is used up. However ensure to continue to stir the bath the bubbles are in so that the bubbles don't stick to the bottom or to each other. Leave them inside the bath for approximately 3 minutes so the gel can fully form and is thick enough. Then a slotted spoon is used to remove the water bubbles from the sodium bath to a pure H2O bath to stop the reaction. After this final step, the water bubbles are complete.
The next part of this is the packaging for the water bubbles. The packaging we created is a 3D printed package that uses PLA for its material. This material is a corn-based plastic that under right conditions can biodegrade in about a year vs. other plastic that takes 450+ years. We would also set up a way fro customers to send back the packaging so we could reuse them. If we were able to do this on a large scale, we would find a way to print the packages faster or find another alternative way to produce an eco friendly package.