Square Coke Bottle

SUBHEAD: We are no fans of corn-syrup based soft drinks, but industrial design can matter.

By Pete Scholtus on 29 April 2010 in Tree Hugger -  
(http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/andrew-kim-s-square-coke-bottle-design.php)
 

 
Image above: Packaging for proposed design for square soft drink container. From (http://designfabulous.blogspot.com/2010/03/eco-coke-bottle-design.html).
 
Maybe not as radical as square watermelons, but still quite progressive is Andrew Kim's square Coke bottle design. It definitely raised the question whether or not all bottles and containers should be square from an environmental point of view. Of course aesthetics, identity and function are also important, but it's surprising how much we could lower the environmental impact of distributing goods by stopping to transport air!


Andrew Kim proposed a bottle that is still 100% recyclable, and:

• with a 25% slimmer cap (saving lots of material)
• 27% more efficient (more bottles fit into a smaller space saving on packaging and transportation)
• collapsible design (for more efficient transportation after its use)
• 100% plant based (made from sugar cane byproducts)
• stackable design (even more efficient transport)

 
Image above: Square bottle is designed to be crushed before recycling. (http://designfabulous.blogspot.com/2010/03/eco-coke-bottle-design.html).
 
By making the bottle square, one can fit more Coke into a container, and less air! Kim calculated that a shipping container fits 3949 additional bottles if they are square, which is cost-saving too.

Of course this is only a concept design at this stage (pretty impressive for a midterm project by an 18-year-old) and one has to look into costs, functionality and other issues with this new design, but we believe it is a good reminder to question the shape of things and to work on minimizing the environmental footprint of transportation in general.

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