We drink an insane amount of bubble water in our household. And while it’s all from recyclable aluminum cans, it still feels… excessive. Which is why the new Bottle+ project on Kickstarter caught my eye. The SPARK Bottle+ is a travel thermos with a built-in, re-usable CO2 chamber to fizz up your water while you’re on the go. In addition keeping your drinks as maximum fizz even as the thermos jostles around in your backpack, the Bottle+ is also waste free.
There are three main components to the SPARK Bottle+, the main drinking vessel, a portable CO2 chamber that attaches to the vessel, and a refilling station. Just like a SodaStream, you place a CO2 cylinder inside the refilling station. When you’re ready to go, affix the chamber to the thermos and press it down onto the refilling station to load your Bottle+ with CO2. When you’re out, press the button on the CO2 chamber to carbonate your water. A full chamber can make produce 15 bottles of sparkling water before needing a recharge.
The whole system is circular and reusable so there is really no waste. The bottle itself is obviously reusable, and like the SodaStream the CO2 canisters can be swapped out and turned in for refilling. Plus, there are no pods to be packaged and shipped.
Launched on August 24th, the Bottle+ campaign has already blown past it Kickstarter goal of $29, 510 and has raised more than $77,000 as of this writing (with 31 days still to go). Early backers can pick up a complete Bottle+ system for €139 (~$164 USD). According to the campaign page, the Bottle+ system will cost €179 (~$211 USD). Units will ship in June 2022.
According to Grandview Research, the global market for sparkling water is valued at $29.71 billion, and projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.6 percent from this year to 2028. So Bottle+ is certainly launching at the right time.
The entire hydration space is actually chock-a-block with companies vying to improve the water you drink and how you drink it. In March of this year, Pani launched a crowdfunding campaign for its water filter/mineralizer/flavor pod system. Earlier this month, Cirkul raised $36 million for its reusable water bottle and flavor cartridge combo. And just last week, drink giant PepsiCo announced that it was bringing its SodaStream Pro fizzy water dispenser to college campuses.
As with any Kickstarter project, backing it is definitely buyer beware. There is a big difference between developing a prototype and scaling up to mass production — just ask the backers of Rite-Press and iGulu. However, if Bottle+ can pull it off, that will be a definite plus for the planet and for soda water addicts like me.
Leave a Reply