NutiFood · Vietnam · 2014
Twelve bottles.
One life vest.
NutiFood’s Plastic Bottle Life Vest gave discarded bottles a second purpose in flood-prone Central Vietnam.
Explore the case
Two local needs
Seasonal floods put communities in Central Vietnam at risk. NutiFood had donated supplies during floods and was also working to reduce plastic waste.
Could the material behind one problem help address the other?
Built to float
Empty plastic bottles already float. The team designed a vest around that property, linking flood relief and plastic reuse in one object.
A vest built around bottles
The vest’s pockets held the empty bottles in place, turning a familiar discarded object into flotation.
- 12
- Empty bottles per vest
- 500 mL
- Capacity of each bottle
- US$1.20
- Production cost per vest, as reported on the campaign board
View original campaign board
First deliveries
The campaign board documents initial distribution to residents in flood-prone areas of Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình and Quảng Trị.
The object tells the story.
What stays with me is how quickly the idea makes sense when you see a bottle slide into the vest.
The same detail that gives the product its function also explains why the project exists.