Now here's one use of paper that's definitely not wasteful. The Drinkable Book is a life-saving pack of water filters in convenient tear-out form produced by New York-based photographer Brian Gartside for the WATERisLIFE organization, which aims to provide clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education programs to schools and villages in developing countries.
Each page of the book consists of technologically advanced filter paper coated with silver nanoparticles capable of killing deadly waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid and E.coli. Each sheet filters 100 liters of water and costs mere pennies to produce.
You simply tear out a page, place it into a slot in a corresponding custom filter box, snap in the pressure plate and pour water inside. The water that collects in the lower reservoir is safe to drink, with its total bacteria count reduced by over 99.99%. A single filter provides 30 days of clean water – which means the entire book can provide an individual with enough clean water for up to four years.


