Everyday Carry Copper Bottle

excercising sustainability and bringing ayurveda to the global market

The project started with collaboration with Studio Coppre, which has already been working on reviving crafts, and have been helping out the copper artisans in the Maharashtra region. They were keen on making an everyday carry copper water bottle to add to their portfolio of products. A daily object that could also accessorise as a lifestyle product was what drew me closer towards this project.

bottle copper cork design metal product product design Sustainable water

Studio Coppre is a social venture from India working with artisans. They design and produce handcrafted metal (copper) products for home and conscious living. Their products are ethically produced, crafted by hand with pure materials, ethically sourced and environmentally sustainable. Below is some of their prodcuts from the copper range.

Why Copper?

According to the International Copper Association, (https://copperalliance.org) copper is an essential nutrient and, therefore, vital to the health of humans, animals and plants. Copper is needed for maintaining normal growth of the foetus during pregnancy, healthy brain functioning and repair of wounds and injuries. Copper is not carcinogenic, mutagenic or a reproductive toxicant. The human body does not manufacture copper, so it needs to be obtained from food and water. Generally, the concentration of copper in food can be up to 2 milligrams per kilogram in red and organ meats, offal, fish, nuts, chocolate and green vegetables.

Health Benefits of Copper Charged Water

The practice of drinking copper-charged water or Tamrajal is an ancient one arising from the knowledge of Ayurveda and is good for both, the environment and you. According to Ayurveda, drinking this water balances the three doshas (vata, kapha, and pitta) in your body. It stimulates the brain, regulates the thyroid gland, reduces the risk of arthritis and joint pains, and even aids skin health and melanin production.

Recycling of Copper

According to the International Copper Study Group (ICSG), about 50% of the copper used in Europe comes from recycling. This reveals that copper requirements are increasingly being met by recycling. This win-win situation is helping to supply the ever-increasing demand for the metal(+250% since the 1960s) while, at the same time, lessening the environmental impact of its production and ensuring its availability for generations to come.

Market Study

Understanding Manufacturing

To understand the process, the tools and the details I visited the steel utensil industry and the workshops of copper artisans. Documentation of the entire visit was done to help with the approach to the design of the bottles.

Ideation & Exploration

The keywords as a starting point and the inspiration for the exploratory phase were:

- tranquil
- feminine
- utilitarian
- formal

Sustainability & Environamental Impact

The environment and use of sustainable materials and manufacturing should be in the forefront of any design process in this day and age. The negative effects of the bad practices in the past have taken their toll and deteriorated the world that we live in. To make sure we leave a liveable environment for the future generations we need to start acting today itself. Copper is a material that has been in use since the last 5000 years. It is one of the very few native metals occurring on the earth. It is highly recyclable without losing any of its properties from both raw state and manufactured goods.

The idea of using cork as a closure comes in mind due to sustainable reasons as well. Cork is a natural material and manufacturing of a cork stopper releases 10 times less CO2 than plastic and 26 times less compared to an aluminium stopper. It is estimated that for every ton of cork produced, cork oak forests capture over 73 tons of CO2, a vital contribution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the main cause of climate change. Cork has been used by wineries and distilleries to seal the bottles for over 500 years consistently. There are records of amphorae sealed with cork in the 3rd century B.C. which contained wine in good condition.

The montados(cork oak forests) are an important environmental, social and economic pillar in Mediterranean countries. They support a unique and fragile ecology which constitutes a habitat for rare and endangered species. They are the foundation of one of the 36 most important ecosystems in the world for preserving biodiversity - on a par with Amazonia, the African Savanna and Borneo. Over 200 animal species and 135 plant species per 1000 m2 find ideal conditions for survival in the cork oak forest.

Design Brief

All research and studies led to the development of a design guideline which was to be reffered to as a checklist for the project.

Quick and dirty prototypes to have a feel of the scale of the bottle were created using MDF. These montages were then used to mock up these forms in a lathe.The montages helped to get out of the sketches and tweak the forms more in a defined manner.

Design Concepts

Working with Studio Coppre in this project their feedback and direction was very important in this project. After discussions and internal presentation with the Studio Coppre team, it was decided to have more modern and contemporary approach to the formal language. Their clientele is mostly located in the USA and Europe, thus having a very traditional Indian form would not be something that a lot of their customers are interested in. Having worked in the international market for long this valuable feedback was taken to steer the design in a different direction.

Copper being a soft material dents and deforms easily. Accentuating copper features along with stainless steel would add a visual interest along with providing necessary strength at the right places.

Concept 1