THE Tranent creators of the world’s first reusable bottle made from plant-based material are setting out to crowdfund £10,000 to help save the planet.

A new company set up by a couple from the town is raising money to release its new plant-based water bottle in a bid to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfill.

Amee Ritchie, 21, and Jake Elliot Hook, 23, both former Ross High School pupils, came up with the idea almost two years ago and are now ready for their first swing at mass production, having raised nearly £6,000 so far.

Amee told the Courier: “During the last year of our studies, we came up with the idea that we were going to eat healthier and be healthier.

“That of course includes drinking a lot more water.

“We both noticed after a while that we were going through a lot of reusable water bottles.

“A lot of them just leaked or wouldn’t clean properly and started to smell after a while. It became a problem.

“We did some research into the problems with each type of water bottle you could get.

“With glass, it smashes quite easily; with steel, it’s very heavy and can make the water taste like metal; and with plastic, there are chemicals from the plastic that can make it into your water, and also, there’s no end of life for plastic – a lot of the time it just ends up in a landfill.

“This is why we created S’wheat.”

S’wheat is a new brand of water bottle made from plant-based material that has a removable base to make it easy to clean.

Amee added: “It’s watertight, easier to clean so no build up of bacteria and it is 100 per cent biodegradable

“We are trying to raise £10,000 to get the initial batch made and distributed.

“We are involved with some of the zero waste shops that are opening up across Edinburgh, but the dream is to get into the big stores like John Lewis and Waitrose.

“Eventually, all going well, we would like to branch out into lunch boxes and kid-sized bottles and things.

“If you order a new bottle off of our website, it will be delivered to you before Christmas, as long as we hit our target, which we are confident we will.”

To find out more about S’wheat, visit crowdfunder.co.uk/s-wheat-the-bottle-that-s-made-from-plants