Gord Water Bottle by jerry mejia from usa

The Gord water bottle is a completely sustainable alternative to the supposedly "green" water bottles in the market today. Being inspired by the storage of water from the past, I've designed a water bottle that uses a completely natural and organic material- a Gourd fruit. Since Gourds become essentially like wood when dried, they have the ability to store water. I took advantage of this drying quality, and grew the gourd fruit inside a mold to manipulate the shape. I am essentially growing water bottles on a vine- it doesn't get any more natural than that.

I've purposely designed the mold so that there is no extra machining required. I integrated an in-mold graphic to expedite branding and any other processes, and I've also used the "swingtop" mechanism because it doesn't require any tapping or machining- reducing it's carbon footprint significantly. All that is needed for the swingtop is 2 dimples, and again, those are in-molded. Each gourd develops it's own "fingerprint" as it grows due to it's natural mottling. Every bottle then becomes unique and custom-made. Also, only the vine needs sunlight, not the actual fruit, so the mold does not have to be clear or plastic which opens doors as far as more sustainable materials go. I am currently growing them in my backyard.

I've made a youtube video explaining the design and the growing process. Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2krW1wDVy7I