Edible Packaging, Sharks With Frickin’ Lasers

Abstract

Biodegradable chip bags and biobased soda bottles are just a few of the environmentally friendly packaging options that food manufacturers have tried in recent years. But David A. Edwards is taking efforts to reduce packaging waste one step further: He envisions that instead of discarding or recycling food wrappers and drink bottles, future snackers would just eat them for dessert. That’s the idea behind Edwards’ brainchild, WikiCells, which are foods with edible containers. So far, yogurts, soups, and fruits have been designed to sit on store shelves, without all the wasteful plastic packaging. “We will eventually look back at the plastics packaging era as starting at one point and ending at one point,” says Edwards, a biomedical engineer at Harvard University. “Right now, sustainability in our minds is limited.” WikiCells take inspiration from biological cells and fruits. Thin and edible like grape skin, WikiCells skin is made of charged particles ...