Icelandic designer Ari Jonsonn has created a biodegradable water bottle made using algae and water.

82% of Protein's audience network are concerned about the disposability of consumer goods. 90% were worried about their personal impact on the wellbeing of the planet. Many of these people have altered their behaviour to bring about positive change. As a result, they're now also looking at what brands can do to help.

In response to this millennial driven cultural shift, solutions are being formed that can both prevent waste and curb negative environmental impact. Plastic packaging has long been one of the biggest offenders in this regard. Though collective recycling is widely implemented, and the UK government has introduced a 5p bag tax to discourage wastage, none of these initiations are fool-proof.

Step forward Ari Jónsson - a student of the Iceland academy of the Arts - who, after learning that over 50% of the world’s plastics were used once and then thrown, away decided that prevention would be better than cure.

His response is a 100% biodegradable water bottle. After studying the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of environmentally friendly materials, Ari settled on a powdered form of agar, a substance made of red algae. When agar is combined with water it becomes a malleable jelly-like substance. After a process involving heating, and two different stages of freezing the bottle is successfully formed. The bottle will hold its shape for as long as it contains water, once its emptied it will begin to decompose.

Why are we using materials that take hundreds of years to break down in nature to drink from once and then throw away?

Designers are increasingly looking at innovative, eco-friendly packaging solutions, and it is entirely feasible that drinks brands will turn to decomposable bottles in the coming years.