This Fashion Company Removes Trash From Oceans With Every Sale (2024)
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United By Blue is focused on reducing ocean trash and plastic pollution. The company has pledged to remove one pound of trash from the oceans and waterways for every product they sell.
By Desirée Kaplan
Updated May 25 2019, 4:34 p.m. ET
Fast fashion has become infamous for its harmful effects on the environment and is considered one of the most polluting industries in the world. Unfortunately, much of that pollution ends up in waterways in the form of waste and dyes. To combat this issue, United By Blue has set out to make a difference through their products and community efforts.
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Since its inception in 2010, the outdoor brand has focused on conservation work. Specifically, the company makes tackling water pollution a top priority.
By focusing on ocean trash and plastic pollution, the team hopes to make a difference with some of the most urgent environmental issues. In fact, United By Blue has pledged to remove one pound of trash from the oceans and waterways for every product they sell.
So how do they plan to follow through on their promise? The company shifted away from writing checks to help the environment and instead decided to put their energy into first-hand conservation work.
Today, United by Blue organizes and hosts cleanups across the United States. The company recruits not only volunteers to clean up, but also their own employees. To make a real impact, the company sets aside time, money, and resources to make these cleanups successful. During theses events, the teams comb through creeks, rivers, beaches, and streams for discarded plastic bottles, styrofoam, tires, and old appliances.
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So far the company has successfully organized 207 cleanups. During the events, they’ve picked up 1,051,079 pounds of trash across the country. While they’ve worked in only 27 states, the company continues to add more states to its roster.
United By Blue has also linked up with other like-minded organizations to continue making a difference. Last year the company partnered with Lonely Whale, an incubator for ideas that encourages market and policy changes for the oceans. Lonely Whale is also focused on ending single-use plastic straws which wreak havoc on the oceans.
Through this collaboration, United By Blue made a whale print on their bandanas along with an exclusive soy wax candle line. More recently, they’ve partnered up again to release another collection of graphic goods. Using water-saving organic cotton, United By Blue created Lonely Whale inspired beach gear including a baseball cap, canvas bag, and T-shirt.
To keep in line with their mission, United By Blue opts for textiles that are better for the soil, air, and oceans. For example, the company uses recycled polyester from plastic bottles since it keeps the bottles out of the water and requires less energy to make. For biodegradable options, United By Blue prefers wool as a natural, renewable resource.
As an alternative to Black Friday, the company hosts an annual nationwide cleanup the day after Thanksgiving and created a DIY cleanup database to help anyone people join the cause no matter where they are. To participate, just find a public space to pick up trash on November 23rd.
Some plastics are taken to a local recycling center where they are processed into raw materials that other manufacturers can use to create new products without using virgin plastic.
Our company started in 2017 when two surfers took a trip to Bali and saw the immense amount of plastic debris floating in the ocean. This discovery highlighted the seriousness of plastic pollution and acted as a catalyst, creating 4ocean's mission to end the oceanic plastic crisis.
ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, 22 April 2024: The Ocean Cleanup, the global non-profit project, has removed a verified all-time total of ten million kilograms (22 million lbs.) of trash from oceans and rivers around the world – approximately the same weight as the Eiffel Tower.
The Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, a Dutch inventor who serves as its CEO. It develops both ocean and river based catch systems. Its ocean system consists of a funnel shaped floating barrier which is towed by two ships. The ocean system is deployed in oceanic gyres to collect marine debris.
Boyan Slat (27 July 1994) is a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur, passionate about creating megaprojects to address planetary problems. He is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup; a non-profit organization developing and scaling technologies to rid the world's oceans of plastic.
OCEAN SALVAGE - The cord of these bracelets is made from recovered marine plastic (Polyethylene Terephthalate). ONE POUND PLEDGE: 4Ocean's "One Pound Pledge" to customers is that 4ocean will remove one pound of trash for one bracelet purchased from the ocean and coastlines within 12 months from the time of purchase.
Although 4Ocean is a for-profit company, they are also a certified B Corporation, a private certification of social and environmental performance for for-profit companies.
Yes! 4ocean was founded by surfers, so all of our bracelets are designed to be worn in and around the water. Our 100% waterproof bracelets are made with recycled plastic cord, recycled stainless steel charms, and recycled glass beads.
Most of the funds are used to run the company and pay workers and fishers who aid in collecting plastics. However, just like the 4Ocean CEO salary, little is known regarding how much the employees take home monthly or daily.
First of all, because they are tiny micro plastics that aren't easily removable from the ocean. But also just because of the size of this area. We did some quick calculations that if you tried to clean up less than one percent of the North Pacific Ocean it would take 67 ships one year to clean up that portion.
Based on a study by Science Advances in 2021, the Philippines is the leading country on the list of top 10 ocean plastic contributors – generating an estimated 356,371 MT of plastic waste in our ocean.
Early results in the Pacific Ocean weren't too promising: The net was being pushed in the current along with the plastic it was supposed to be collecting. Then, rough seas broke an 80m section of the net free, and the apparatus was towed back to port to be patched up.
NOAA Ocean Exploration is the only federal program dedicated to exploring our deep ocean, closing the prominent gap in our basic understanding of U.S. deep waters and seafloor and delivering the ocean information needed to strengthen the economy, health, and security of our nation.
The General Assembly of the United Nations is seen as the leading international body for global ocean governance. It functions with the Secretary General making recommendations through the Consultative Process of ocean matters and the Law of the Sea, which are then annually reviewed by The General Assembly.
Introduction: My name is Dean Jakubowski Ret, I am a enthusiastic, friendly, homely, handsome, zealous, brainy, elegant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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