System and Method for Eco-Friendly Beverage Dispensing Kiosk

Abstract

A beverage dispensing kiosk that contains empty beverage containers and fills them with water and other beverages. The beverage containers comply with applicable regulations and standards to be designated “compostable.” The kiosk uses municipal water as the base, purifies the water, and adds constituents to meet the taste of the ultimate consumer. The delivered beverage may be commonly known as bottled water or as a soft drink, such as a cola beverage.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This non-provisional application claims the benefit of provisional application No. 61 / 807,191, filed Apr. 1, 2013, which application is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]One embodiment of the present invention is a water kiosk that solves the problem of water being sold in non-compostable bottles. The kiosk enables the provision to consumers of bottled water or beverage in an easily biodegradable—“compostable”—beverage container for use in the sale of bottled water and other beverages. The beverage kiosk fills the container onsite at the time of purchase. The kiosk filters municipal water to a high level of purity, provides additives if desired by the consumer, fills a compostable beverage container, seals the cap, and delivers the sealed bottled water to the consumer.BACKGROUND[0003]Water and other beverages are sold to consumer either in bottles or other containers that are not “compostable” or at...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text describes an eco-friendly beverage dispensing kiosk and method that uses a standard local water supply facility to filter water and fill empty beverage containers with a beverage that contains the filtered water. The containers are then sealed with a cap and delivered to a beverage recipient. The technical effect of this invention is to provide a solution for providing a "compostable" container that can be filled with a beverage and delivered to a consumer in a safe and quality manner.

Problems solved by technology

Such containers create many environmental problems, including adding mass to landfills, ending up as litter in the environment that does not degrade under natural conditions, and creation of significant carbon emissions through the transport of pre-filled bottles from bottling sites to points of sale.

To date, no company has been able to develop and put into commercial production a beverage container that degrades easily in the natural environment—meeting various state, national, and international standards for “compostability.” The reason for this failure is that a beverage container that degrades easily must be sold immediately, because degradation begins immediately upon filling.

Thus, beverages cannot be bottled, shipped, and stored at points of sale without degrading to the point where they are unacceptable to consumers.

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