b'vvvvvSURFACE WATERPhoto: cdrin / Shutterstock.com1 2 BoXeD Water EDible SeaWeeD Pouches Boxed water cartons are made largely of paperThese squishy, edible pouches are created by products that can be recycled. Their high paperencasing blobs of drinking water within edible content means they are dependent on trees, amembranes, commonly made of natural seaweed. renewable resource. Combined with responsibleSeaweed works well because it grows up to 1 paperboard sourcing, the added benefit is alsometer per day and it doesnt compete with food forest stewardship.crops. The pouches biodegrade within four to six weeks if left unused, 6which is an incredible A potential downside to boxed water is that, notimprovement over the hundreds of years plastic including the paper involved, the cartons stillbottles need to degrade. contain some lining materials that are difficult to recycle. These are challenging for someRather than a plastic water bottle, thirsty runners communities to handle, as some have programsentering mile 23 at the 2019 London Marathon to recycle boxed water linings whereas others dowere provided seaweed pouches filled with not. Still, boxed water cartons are single-use watera sports drink. By using these edible and containers, which arent good for the environment,biodegradable pouches, race organizers were so it might be best to just stick with a reusableable to reduce the number of plastic bottles used bottle and tap water. from 920,000 in 2018 to 704,000 in 2019. 7Whos Minding the Planet? 15'