Single-use packaging has quietly become one of the most widespread byproducts of modern consumption patterns, reflecting a culture increasingly shaped by convenience and overconsumption. From takeaway meals to personal care products, everyday convenience often relies on small single-use containers designed to be used for just a few moments but meant to remain in the environment for decades.
Starting from exactly this reflection, the Australian design studio Heliograph developed Agios Kyprinos!, a compostable reinterpretation of the classic soy sauce container. The project, created in collaboration with Vert Design, it does not seek to eliminate the object, but rather to rethink it. The goal is to preserve the familiar experience of soy fish, while completely transforming the life cycle of its ingredients.
Saint Kyprinos! design by Heliograf in collaboration with Vert Design © Heliograf
Saint Kyprinos! design by Heliograf in collaboration with Vert Design © Heliograf
Saint Kyprinos! design by Heliograf in collaboration with Vert Design © Heliograf
Saint Kyprinos! design by Heliograf in collaboration with Vert Design © Heliograf
Saint Kyprinos! design by Heliograf in collaboration with Vert Design © Heliograf
Among the most problematic forms of waste are forms of micro-packaging: small sachets, condiment packets and single-dose containers that circulate globally in huge quantities. According to industry estimates, approximately 855 billion sachets are produced each year, making them one of the most widespread forms of plastic packaging worldwide.
Due to their small size, these items are notoriously difficult to collect, recycle or recover effectively. Many inevitably end up in landfills or are dispersed into ecosystems. But how often do we stop to think about them?
These objects are so small and familiar that they often go almost unnoticed. We use them, throw them away and move on. However, when multiplied by billions, their impact becomes anything but invisible. Among these artifacts of everyday consumption, there is one that many people immediately recognize.
The fish-shaped soy sauce container, often simply called a soy fish, has become something of a visual symbol of sushi culture. Introduced in the mid-20th century, this small squeeze dispenser quickly spread to restaurants and supermarkets in Asia, Europe and North America.
Its success lies in its simplicity. Compact and easy to use, the tiny plastic fish delivers just the right amount of soy sauce for a single meal. For many people, opening the small fish has become part of the ritual of eating takeout sushi. However, this is where the paradox emerges.
The container is only used for a few seconds during a meal, yet it is made of plastic that can remain in the environment for hundreds of years. Over decades of global sushi consumption, billions of these little containers have been produced and discarded. What may seem like a playful accessory is actually one of the quieter symbols of disposable culture.
Instead of plastic, Holy Carp! it is made from renewable plant fibers, including pulp derived from bagasse, a by-product of sugar cane processing. The container is designed to be plastic-free, PLA-free and PFAS-free and can decompose in home composting conditions in just a few weeks, rather than remaining in the environment for centuries.
The principle behind the project is simple but powerful: to align the lifetime of the packaging with the few seconds of its actual use. Interestingly, the design does not abandon the recognizable fish shape. Saint Kyprinos! deliberately retains the iconic silhouette of the traditional container.
Why keep fish? Because sometimes the most effective sustainable solutions don’t erase familiar rituals — they transform them. The fish shape has become part of the cultural language of takeaway sushi. By maintaining this visual identity by changing the material, the project shows how design can intervene without disrupting everyday habits.
In this sense, Agios Kyprinos! it represents more than a simple hardware replacement. It is an example of a design-led transition, in which environmental improvements are incorporated into existing practices. The project was also developed with real-world application in mind. The container is leak-proof and can keep soy sauce for up to 48 hours, allowing restaurants to fill it directly at the store instead of relying on prepackaged plastic alternatives.
Heliograph also introduced several minor adjustments based on observations of actual user behavior. The container is slightly larger than the traditional soy fish, responding to customers’ tendency to receive multiple packages at once. Therefore, increasing the capacity of a container could help reduce overall consumption.
An optional compostable seal sticker further improves the transport and handling of takeout orders. Despite all this, sustainable design it only works if it can be used in real life.
Within the vast ecosystem of global packaging, the soy sauce container may seem like an insignificant detail. However, its history reveals something fundamental about the design challenges of the present. When hundreds of billions of single-use items are produced each year, even the smallest take on systemic importance.
Saint Kyprinos! shows that change does not always come from great technological breakthroughs. Sometimes it starts with a simple question: What if we redesigned the objects we stopped noticing?
