Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
Over 300 years ago, a Japanese innkeeper saw that the seaweed soup he discarded somehow coagulated overnight.
Little could he have imagined that his observation and discovery of agar might be used by society three centuries later to help improve the marine environment.
The agar that he discovered is now used to make the popular Japanese dessert called yōkan in Japan.
Team Agar or AMAM made a similar discovery that may impact the world for another three centuries, if not longer.
AMAM is a group of Japanese designers including Kosuke Araki, Noriaki Maetani, and Akira Muraoka. They created Agar Plasticity, a project that explores using agar, a jelly-like substance derived from marine algae, in packaging.
The trio wants to use agar as an earth-friendly alternative to plastic. Imagine the implications of their biodegradable invention and idea.
Agar Plasticity won the grand prize at the 2016 Lexus Design Award global competition. The Lexus Design Award is an international competition that supports emerging designers working on ideas that improve the planet. Team Agar won over a field of 1,200+ entries from 73 countries.
Read about Ari Jónsson agar-derived biodegradable bottle here.
Copyright © 2016 by World Open Water Swimming Association