green vending machine by parimala sivaraj from singapore

The world is littered with waste from packaging. One way to address this problem is to reduce packaging material at the source.

The idea behind my design is to change the way we obtain water and drinks from vending machines. By providing your own water bottle, vending machines can fill up your bottle by gauging its volume through sensors. Also, it is set up such that you only pay for the amount of water/drink you choose.

Drink providers will no longer fill these vending machines with bottles or cans, but with concentrated syrups that will be mixed with chilled water when dispensed into the bottle provided by the user. As a result, the vending machine can serve many more customers before needing to be refilled, hence saving on transportation.

These vending machines would work best in certain scenarios such as schools and offices, where users are more likely to bring their own water bottles.