Did you know that 75 billion gallons of bottled water are consumed globally each year? Or that it takes 450 years for those bottles to completely degrade? Sorry to get off on the wrong foot, but those right there are some pretty startling facts.
Memobottle co-founders Jesse Leeworthy and Jonathan Byrt grew up together in a small coastal town south of Melbourne, Australia. Noticing an alarming number of plastic water bottles polluting local waterways and parks, good mates Jesse and Jonathan started looking into the global impact of this problem. It turned out to be a lot worse than they anticipated!
Human convenience is often the catalyst for environmental harm. To influence a positive change, and to effectively break people’s habits around single-use drink bottles, Jesse and Jonathan realised they needed to offer an alternative that was truly convenient, beautiful and sustainable in design. What would gain modern approval and pass the test of time? What design features are most prevalent in our most popular products and accessories such as tablets, phones, e-readers, laptops and computer bags? And finally….why on earth are our water bottles round?!
And that’s how memobottle, a premium, re-usable, flat water bottle resembling the shape of a piece of paper was born. What started with an idea on a sketch pad is now a multi-million dollar company challenging one of the world’s biggest environmental issues. Jesse and Jonathan aim to challenge how we as a society think about water consumption and transport – and to couple our modern predilections for aesthetics and convenience, with environmental responsibility. Memobottle is leading a one bottle movement to inspire a more reusable community and reduce single-use bottle consumption.
We sat down with co-founders Jesse Leeworth and Jonathan Byrt to find out how the #onebottlemovement came to be.
1. What did you want to be when you grew up?
Jesse: Inventor
Jonathan: A footballer, and then a Management Consultant
2. When and what was the moment that prompted you to start your own brand?
The memobottle was born from two main frustrations that we had encountered within society while growing up together. Growing up in a small coastal town in Australia, we were constantly spending time at the beach and outdoors. We noticed an increase in the number of plastic water bottles that would wash ashore at our local beach. We had also experienced the frustrations of trying to fit round water bottles into our bags. All of the bottles out there were all designed around ease of manufacture. We decided to flip the equation and create a product that was optimized for transportation but still held the functionality of traditional water bottles.
Jesse went to work on the design that soon became the memobottle. We knew from that point that not only could memobottle be a beautiful product, but it had the ability to become a vehicle to change people’s mentality around how water can be consumed. We launched our first range of products on the crowd funding platform Kickstarter. We quickly realized the potential of memobottle when we surpassed our funding goal within 36 hours, society had backed our concept and it has been full steam ahead ever since.
3. In 3 words, describe your occupation.
No dull moments.
4. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
It’s cliche… but.. “If you love what you’re doing then you’ll never work a day in your life”. That made the jump into memobottle a very easy one for us, and makes every day a blessing.
5. What is your favourite creative outlet to get the juices flowing?
Quiet time, reading and the outdoors. Surfing, hiking and traveling are big go to’s for us. We both get involved in the yoga and meditation/mindfulness side of things as well which we find helps clear the mind and provides some added inspiration.
6. Where do you see yourself and the brand in 10 years time?
10 years a stretch! We have a 2 year product roadmap in action which will see the brand take some slightly different angles – but all with a goal to inspire a more reusable society. If in 10 years time we are still creating beautiful products with an incredible team for a cause that we are passionate about, then we will be very happy men. If we are able to have some personal assets to our names by then that would be nice as well! haha #startuplife
7. If you could invite any five celebrities to dinner, who would be on the guest list?
Bill Murray, Mariah Carey, Steve Jobs, Wes Anderson, Patrick Dangerfield.
8. What was the last rule you broke?
Sneaking food into cinema? Sneaking into an abandoned theme park in Berlin to take photos.
9. Do you have any hidden talents?
Jonno can peel a navel orange with his bare hands in 5 seconds (PB). Jesse has bionic long distance vision.
10. What was the last movie you saw and was it any good?
The new Kingsman movie. Yep.. borderline stupid, but strangely lovable.
Ever looked down at your carry bag only to realise that your water bottle is not worth the squeeze? The memobottle brings leak-proof hydration to a new level of style and efficiency. Not only are you saving some coin with an ultra stylish drink bottle, you’re doing your bit for the environment too.
Every element of the memobottle has been carefully considered, from its innovative shape to the recycled cardboard packaging. Available in A5, A6 and very soon A7 and Slim, the durable, dishwasher-friendly, long life water bottle are a very sexy alternative to your disposable plastic bottle. Designed to neatly slide into carry bags alongside computers, books and valuables, the super slim, resuable water bottle is a dream to transport.
“Flippin Dippin Sippin Mixarooni”
“Selected a mix of some all-time faves with a touch of nostalgic throwback to our younger years. These songs still get a regular play both in and outside the working hours and leaves us feeling reflective/empowered. And then a couple of bangers for the Friday afternoon excitement.” – Jesse and Jonno
