Molecule – LOST GEM
Alex Venet opened Molecule as a water cafe in 2012, offering artisanal hyper-filtered selections with different vitamins and minerals. He set out to create an environmentally friendly business that was also economically affordable. “Every twenty-seven hours we use enough plastic to circle the planet,” I was told when I visited. “And we want to make a change by reducing our carbon footprint.”
In 2015, the company decided to shift towards a model similar to “a modern well,” doling out as much purified water as needed to members paying a twenty-dollar monthly fee per person or household. The water is hyper-filtered through an impressive $25,000 machine, and can even be made alkaline or basic. Though the concept has gained speed in Los Angeles, Molecule seems to be the only one of its kind in Manhattan. “We are not trying to add to water consumption” explained Manu Venegas, who started out as an enthusiastic customer, and now manages the shop, “we are trying to replace wasteful practices.”
In addition to the membership, Molecule sells its own line of water bottles, filters, and filtration systems for sinks and showers. Even the most barren filter is twenty times more powerful than a Brita, and, unlike Brita, the products have National Sanitation Foundation certification. Molecule has certainly established itself as the place to go with water concerns, and for delineating plastic waste. As one customer put it, “all other water just tastes bad now.”