by Bonnie Alter,


Black+Blum is the British design team that specializes in creating household items that you want to use again and again. Now they have come out with Eau Good, an organic and stylish looking water bottle that makes tap water taste great.

Dan Black and Martin Blum wanted to create a bottle that was ergonomically- (and aesthetically) designed and would filter tap water as you drink. Ever conscious of the environment, they are well aware that over 22 billion plastic water bottles are discarded yearly.

The ingenious and careful design is based on an ancient Japanese filtering system using carbon filters. In Japan carbon filters have been used as a water purifier since the 17th century. They reduce chlorine and chemicals, add minerals to the water and balance the pH. The active carbon filter lasts up to 6 months.

The lovely looking bottle is made from BPA-free plastic. It has a cork top. Just released this week, the water bottle has alrealdy won best new product award at the Home Show in London. TreeHugger Lloyd heard about it in Toronto last week at the Interior Design Show: it is sweeping the world.

The way it works is ingenious. You squeeze the bottle to lock the filter in place as well as release it when it needs to be changed.

TreeHugger had the pleasure of meeting up with Martin Blum and Dan Black, so we know a bit about their background.

The pair met at the University of Northumbria where they were both studying industrial design and decided to work together because they both wanted to design “products for the right reason.” They acknowledge that they are lucky to have the freedom to choose the kind of work that they want to do and the flexibility to branch out and not be pigeon-holed. Blum’s wife is Japanese and she has influenced their thinking in the development of the products, as would seem likely in the case of the eau bottle.

(Source: www.treehugger.com )