An environmental science graduate has turned entrepreneur after spotting a gap in the reusable bottle market.
George Sweet has created a bamboo bottle which he says is more sustainable and a better design that more established brands, and has formed a Cornish-based enterprise called - what else? - Sweet Bamboo.
The University of Plymouth graduate came up with his own design after growing frustrated with bottles that had narrow necks and were difficult to clean.
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The 22-year-old combined that frustration with his education on water sustainability to create his Sweet Bamboo bottles which can be used for hot or cold drinks are now selling in four shops around the country as well as online.
Mr Sweet said his mission was to increase awareness of the negative impacts consuming bottled water has on fresh water ecosystems, such as drying up natural water sources and depriving aquatic life. He also wanted to create products that helped reduce the amount of single use plastic within the environment.
He said: “I did buy reusable bottles from other companies but I could never find a suitably-priced one that had a wide, cylindrical shape.
“Most of the others have thin bottle necks and because I would have water one day, coffee the next and it would stink after a week because you can’t get a brush in to clean it.
“I wanted to be different and wanted a wide shape so you could use it for all different liquids and then fill it with warm water and easily get a brush in.
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“The bottle also come with a metal mesh strainer inside because another thing I got annoyed about with other products is if you wanted a cold drink and left it in a hot car, you couldn’t get an ice cube through the tight neck.
“So my bottles are wide, you can put ice cubes in it, you can use the filter so when you drink the ice cubes don’t fall into your mouth, you can put fruit in there to infuse the water, you can put small tea leaves on top.”
The bamboo design is pleasing on the eye as well as being sustainable and that was something else that mattered to Mr Sweet. He said that each part of bamboo, which comes from a plantation in China, looks different close up and that the varying markings on each makes them unique.
He said: “I studied environmental science at the University Of Plymouth so learnt about water capitalism and I was really interested in it and did more research into it.
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“I realised the impact it had on the environment and I know lots of people have reusable bottles so needed to do something different. I knew bamboo was sustainable so I thought I would make my own bottle using that.
“Everyone has a metal bottle but every bit of bamboo is different, so each bottle might look similar from a distance but close up every little brain is different.”
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Mr Sweet has plans to extend his range and is hoping to work on a bundle in time for Christmas 2020, so people can get a number of his products together. Coffee cups, bags and straws are just some of the other ideas that George is working on.
“I have had a high demand for coffee cups, multi-use coffee cups, so it will probably come with a little shaker ball so you can have protein shakes as well and you can reduce your plastic consumption for the gym. Ecobags and straws as well, there is quite a bit I am working on.
“I am hoping to create a bundle pack, so you’d have your bag, your coffee cup, your bottle, your straws. It will be an all-in-one kind of thing which I think could go quite well.”