Slam #1 Pop Bottle

You may be too young to remember, but there was a time when soda was sold in thick, glass, returnable bottles.

Funny enough I just got back from a country where this is still a common practice.I was probably influenced by this without thinking about it.

One other thought, perhaps you could come up with a “sterilzation wand” that dips into the bottle sort of like a froth wand for an espresso machine.

I like this idea. it could shoot in steam suck it out then fill with soda in one motion. maybe it could even pierce some sort of port on the top of the bottle. That way the cap would not have to be removed.

Perhaps you should do away with the bottle totally. Just about everyone has their own thermos/coffee container and having a machine that simply fills their cup, bottle, etc.

I was considering this for a bit but decided the trade off between eco-friendlyness and convenience would be too much for the average soda drinker. The user could not just buy a soda on a whim they would have to remember to bring their own bottle. Plus, standardizing the bottle would make it easier to design a machine to interface with it.

Cleaning containers poses an additional question: Which uses more energy, cleaning containers individually or en masse?

For example, if everyone had their own cup, would it take more energy to clean them with a sterilization wand or by hand-washing? Could you make the eco-cleaning solutions cheaply and efficiently? If we turned in all our containers and had them cleaned and refilled at a big plant, is that more energy efficient?

Note: Don’t just take into account the energy required to create steam, but everything from the cleaning solutions to energy losses from the power generation plant to the location of the end user. Even the creation of a long term durability container from mining raw materials to processing and fabrication should be counted vs. the energy costs for an equivalent number of short durability containers.

:)ensen.

I’m not so sure about the idea of keeping the cap on during the process, but I do like the idea of having the sterilization wand clean and then suck whatever condensation or solution in the bottle out afterward.

why are pop machines tall, large rectangular objects? i saw a movie (“Predator”?) w people walking in the jungle. someone cuts a vine and drinks from it…

i like 73lotus’s idea of doing away with the bottle completely. consumers can bring their own bottles, or buy a bottle from the vending machine. the only problem would be dispensing the correct amount of cooldrink (i.e. making sure that a little bottle doesnt overflow) however, this could also be an advantage, as the machine could be programmed to dispense different quantities - how many times have u drank more cooldrink than you should have, just because the can or bottle contains specific quantities??

as for reusable bottles… rather having the vending machine clean them, could you not have a receptacle for used bottles?..so that bottles are just collected and cleaned elsewhere. you can have the cost of the bottle credited to your vending machine account and you get a ready-bottled bottle of cooldrink rather than having to fill your bottle yourself, at the machine :slight_smile:

But where would we be without our 20 oz. sodas? :slight_smile:
I actually don’t see this as a problem, since there are coffee machines now that do this (dispense different quantities).
I started to wonder about the whole carbonation/pouring thing but if fountain soda machines can do it, I’m sure there’s no reason a vending machine can’t. Maybe the bottle would have to be filled in a couple of shots, though, to avoid overflow of bubbles.

Ok well it’s an interesting discussion and i’ not sure how if what i say will add something but here goes.

You have to think bigger than vending machines. they are not the only access points to soda. if it’s a returnable bottle…people have to be able to get it at the supermarket, at the restaurant, off of street vendors, stadiums. so the your sterilzation process has to be portable enough and fast enough to service these communities. So what you’re trying to do here is change the paradigm of use. so people don’t mind exchanging bottles at any venue…or getting refills. We do it at mcDonalds maybe we can do it at the stadium. but then where do you put the costs of un-regulated dispensed drink. I mean you cna have free refills at McDonalds but if you do it at a 50000 person stadium then who pays for that? As a stadium rep how do you know how much should be bought? You might have to expand the question in order to focus properly.

You have to think bigger than vending machines. they are not the only access points to soda. if it’s a returnable bottle…people have to be able to get it at the supermarket, at the restaurant, off of street vendors, stadiums.

-I was defiantly thinking of this. there could be the 7-11 version that would replace their coolers filled with prepackaged drinks. I don’t know if I will have time in this competition to design every version but I can defiantly hint towards it.

-I really don’t know if I want to let the user provide their own container. this would kill my argument that it would increase profit for manufacturers. plus it would be harder to standardize the refilling mechanism. And branding is such a huge part of soft-drink culture. I can’t imagine coke would be happy with people drinking their product out of an anonymous thermos.

Note: Don’t just take into account the energy required to create steam, but everything from the cleaning solutions to energy losses from the power generation plant to the location of the end user. Even the creation of a long term durability container from mining raw materials to processing and fabrication should be counted vs. the energy costs for an equivalent number of short durability containers.

-This is a good point. I can’t imagine that the creation of steam will use more recourses than to produce a totally new bottle. Including transportation cost of raw materials as well as transportation of final product. But you are right. I need to back up my hypothesis with research. Anyone have any good places to find out real cost analysis of pop bottles?

Perhaps more energy efficient than steam might be a warm water rinse with irradiation sterilization.

Probably the main driver for refilling bottles only will be the ease of accomodating a known standard size and shape. This size and shape may eventually be brand specific in order to keep people toting around advertising.

I just saw this thread. This idea is very similar to what one I had when I first read about the design slam. I envisioned a machine that would sterilize and clean a bottle and dispense water into it. In spite of being raised by environmentalists I still find myself occasionally using disposible cups at the office because I’m just too lazy to clean my glass so I think the cleaning is important.

The wrinkles to my idea: mostly branding stuff. the bottle would be very memorable and graphic with a shoulder strap. It would be a walking advertisement just like those little white cords from everyones ipod and would be something that feels fairly permanent and solid. The container could also be set up to contain the recommended amount of water that an individual should consume. I also thought of including a magnetic strip so that the users bank account or credit card would be charged automatically.

I would also focus on water only and sell something guaranteed to be pure like distilled water with some minerals added back. There is really not much regulation in the USA on bottled drinking water and no guarantee that it is better than tap water. Also, some plastics have been shown to leach substances into food and drink that upset human hormonal balance. If people could be educated about this and convinced that this particular water was “perfect” then it could be something that really caught on – reduce waist and purify eliminate problems from the most basic substance that we must consume while elimanating any minor daily hassles of paying for something or cleaning a container.

–Ian

one reason bottles should be washed at the drink dispenser and not at home:

a lot of people do use those eddie bauer plastic bottles or even an old poland spring whatever bottle for water over and over again… but that’s water. it’s convenient - you don’t have to wash the bottle that often - just rinse it and fill again - whatever, wash it every once in awhile - but it isn’t totally necessary. no one wants to wash a thermos that contained sticky sugar drinks after a long day, let alone carry it around. the ony demographic who consistantly use their own personally drink recepticles are babies and their bottles - mabye look into why and how, etc.

Good start! Have you heard of BIOTA (blame it on the altitude) water bottles? It’s essentially a plastic that is made from corn oil, etc. and afer just three months in a ladfill, it decomposes! I actually took one of these bottles and placed earth into it added some water and within two weeks it appeared as if the bottle was melting. It shrunk 1/4 of its size!

As for the sterilization factor, how about coming up with a collapseable bottle with a top that was self sealing so that at any given time the bottle would be ready for refillage. Kinda like those water containers you use when camping.

Cheers!!! :smiley:

“I actually took one of these bottles and placed earth into it added some water and within two weeks it appeared as if the bottle was melting. It shrunk 1/4 of its size!”

cool.

Not the best idea, without cleaning, those bottles act as excellent petri dishes for bacteria.

I also had a new thought about the bottle. Back when glass bottles were reused, they would become frosted from the reuse. I don’t know how appealing a frosted plastic bottle wouuld be. Maybe the bottle would have bumpers where they come into contact with other objects or the whole thing is opaque. Just a thought.

find it odd the discussion hasnt gone further tbh. i’d guess the machine we know is remnant of glass bottle requirements. big and sturdy. heavy. dimensions set by glass bottle storage. internal movements. and mechanicals. betting aluminum cans kept same basic dimensions. just new internal mechanicals. update the beverage container. not the delivery system. limit corporate expense. no change to infrastructure support. marketing only knows billboard message. all the same as before. safe and uncreative.

what if:

  • the dispenser wasnt rectilinear? wasnt a box?
  • the beverage container wasnt a can? or bottle? or plastic? after all, purpose is immediate gratification. why the elaborate storage?
  • the beverage container was created in the machine? filled w beverage? and edible? like a coconut.
  • the dispenser was shaped like a tree? or a grape vine? something Willy Wonka would design?
  • if Marketing likes the billboard, wont they love a trademark dispenser shape thats not a box? a trademarked beverage shape, thats not a can? a rebirth of opportunity akin to classic Coke bottle. the shape the world knows.

Ok, I am getting my act together and started throwing some ideas on paper.

I thought it would not add too much cost to mold in a retainer ring to the cap.

and of the machine its self:

I think POM has come to a nice solution for there bottles. and there advertisements are nice also-

I think the shape has to function but also work asthetically so that it stands out-again no real unique bottle but because of what is printed on the bottle i think Vitamin water is well designed. But I dont like the way it tastes-too bad great bottle layout design.


vitaminwater-

POM

yeah I dig the pom bottle.

I was thinking about bottles, dishwashers, and how it is alot easier to clean the outside of something than the inside.
Someone said something about baby bottles, Have you seen those baby bottles with the liner inside of them that keeps air out of the milk?

What if you had a hard shell bottle(like nalgene) with a liner? The machine could suck the liner out the top and clean the surface of the liner. You could do away with the wand and trying to suck out leftover cleaner. It also lets you design the bottle shape without hoving to consider how the shape affects the cleaning wand (the sucked out liner would look like a balloon no matter how the bottle was shaped).

Final solution:

My solution to the disposable pop bottle is a system of bottle and machine that sells the Drink separately from the bottle. The vending machine has an option to buy either a full bottle of the desired product or refill a bottle that has already been purchased. Through price structure it is advantageous for the consumer to buy a bottle and use it multiple times rather than buy once and throw away.

The bottles through their design have a non-deposable aesthetic, however, they use the exact same amount of resources to manufacture as existing disposable ones. The labels are printed on the plastic to further extenuate the non-disposable aesthetic.

Eventually these bottles will probably be thrown away, however, if the user refills their bottle only a single time then there is one less pop bottle in a land fill. Chances are they would refill it more than once increasing the benefit each time. Hopefully it will never be thrown away.

Th insides of the actual machine will be like a hybrid of a soda fountain and a soda bottle machine.