The Philippines is commonly called a “sachet economy”. This is how most people purchase their toiletries, with little education on the impact of single-use plastics on the environment. And due to inadequate waste management, we are the third largest ocean polluter in the world. A terrifying statistic for a country located at the center of the marine ecosystem.

Solid shampoo bars are a great and simple solution to this problem. But after 32 years of existence, most people still think it’s a bar of soap. It’s not appealing for the hotel industry or home consumers to use. Bottles for hair. Bars for body. So by changing its shape, maybe we can change consumer mindset.

We redesigned the shampoo bar into the shape of a bottle to make it more intuitive. A 3D-printable mold was developed for easy replication, along with a Dissolving Font to push education on sustainability. We partnered with an FDA-approved supplier to produce shampoos with our molds. Each bottle was made by hand and produced with local artisans.

We took a two-pronged approach for product dissemination. The first was to make the design open-sourced. By giving the 3D-printable design out for free, anyone, anywhere can create their own Dissolving Bottles for profit or personal use. The second was to partner with more hotels around the country and have it become part of their business commitment to provide only plastic-free shampoo.

The Dissolving Bottle is a 100% Filipino and 100% plastic-free solution.