How To Stop Ocean Plastic Pollution

Currently between 9 and 27 billion pounds of plastic enter the ocean every year.

That means every 5 minutes a whole warehouse worth of plastic will have entered the ocean. This plastic ends up in the fish we eat in micro quantities which contain toxic chemicals that get stored in our bodies over time.

These chemicals found in plastic are linked to birth defects, cancer, abnormal male sexual development, male infertility, and a whole host of other issues.

READ MORE: Types Of Everyday Plastics That Are Harmful To Humans

However:

This is not the end of the havoc plastic pollution causes.

Small micro-plastics that come from our clothing make their way into the ocean and into plankton.

Plankton is a keystone species for life on our planet.

Areas of the ocean where plankton die-off are called dead spots because all ocean life is unable to survive. Plankton produces 70% of the world's oxygen.

Without them, all life on the planet would die. 

Like other environmental issues, the longer we wait to address the plastic pollution crisis, the worse it will get.

So what is the plastic pollution solution? 

Stop Ocean Pollution

Current Plastic Pollution Solutions 

Many nonprofits are focused on cleaning up the plastic that is currently in the ocean.

There is already 538 million pounds of floating plastic pollution on the surface of our oceans.

However:

Even with millions of dollars in funding, they collectively have pulled .01% of the plastic percent every year that goes into the ocean every year. 

“Try putting 95 percent of the efforts on stopping plastic from entering the ocean and only 5 percent on cleanup.”

— — Richard Thompson, head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom.

Read More: Facts About Plastic Pollution

how to save our oceans from plastic

Although, cleaning up plastic in the ocean is important and meaningful.

There is a more effective way of ending the plastic pandemic—clean up the plastic BEFORE it gets to the ocean.

With this method, we can stop ocean plastic pollution at the source. There is plastic, right now, sitting on the banks of rivers in Guatemala, the Philippines, and countries all over the world that could be collected and processed at a fraction of the cost in time and manpower.

Very few companies have taken this approach as it is more difficult to get funding.

But:

Stopping ocean plastic pollution at it’s source is the best approach we have today in order to save our oceans for future generations and save our oceans.. 

How You Can Help Ocean Plastic Cleanup

Support us in our mission to stop plastic from entering the ocean by buying some of our merchandise, donating directly, or purchasing products. 

With every product purchased we remove 10lbs of ocean-bound plastic from the environment and recycle it. Each bracelet below is handcrafted by artisans in Guatemala.

Solution to plastic pollution in the ocean

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Our Guatemalan bracelets are hand-crafted by local residents in Guatemala. Each purchase removes 10 pounds of plastic from the oceans. Click below to see our different styles available now!

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What types of plastic do we collect?

Types of plastic we collect

There’s a lot of terms used when it comes to plastic and where it’s collected. Here’s a breakdown of the type of plastic we collect where it comes from and what that means.

We collect plastic from 3 sources

1. Ocean Plastic

2. Ocean-Bound Plastic

3. River Plastic

4. Nature-Bound Plastic

Ocean-Bound Plastic - This is plastic that is within 50 KM of the ocean and is an area where the waste is mismanaged. Mismanaged waste means that the waste isn’t properly disposed of and because of it’s proximity to the ocean is at high risk of entering the ocean. We estimate that about 50% of the ocean-bound plastic that we could collect would have ended up in the ocean and the other 50% would have been burned in open fires.

Ocean-Plastic - this is plastic that is in the ocean or was in the ocean and washed back up onto the beach. This plastic is very negatively affecting the environment polluting oceans and beaches and harming marine and human life.

River Plastic - this is our term for plastic we pull out of rivers or streams. This plastic has a very very high likelihood of entering the ocean and is already polluting the river. This plastic can be any distance from the ocean.

Nature-Bound Plastic - this is mismanaged waste that is further away than 50 km from the ocean. This plastic will either be burned or pollute the environment in some other way. Being further away from the ocean means it’s not considered ocean-bound but that doesn’t mean that it won’t end up in the ocean it just has a lower risk. For example, The Motagua River in Guatemala has millions of pounds of plastic that flow down it that come from almost 300 kilometers away!

Classifications of plastic that we collect

We are able to collect and recycle all of these types of plastic and will soon be able to expand what we’re able to collect and recycle with your help.

Type 1 PET: This is the type of plastic that most beverages come in. This is one of the most prevalent types of plastic and it’s also one of the easiest to recycle.

Type 2 HDPE: This is the second most common type of plastic that we find. This is what milk jugs and detergent containers are made of. 

Type 5 PP - This type of plastic is what yogurt containers are made there is also an established recycling market for this type of plastic.

We recycle all of the plastic that we collect and only collect what we can recycle. Why do we do this? Because in developing countries they don’t have contained landfills or other ethical disposal options very often that means that the landfills will often dump into rivers and streams that take it right back to the ocean. So by focusing on what can be recycled we can collect a lot more plastic and make sure it doesn’t end up back in the ocean.

Why is burning plastic so bad?

Plastic is made from oil with a lot of added chemicals. This means that when you burn it plastic you’re not only releasing greenhouse gases but you’re also releasing toxic chemicals into the air. This has a direct effect on human health. 

How does plastic end up in the ocean?

There’s a lot of reasons that plastic goes into the ocean. Some of it is is from litter, some from fishing boats, some from cruise ships, yachts, and military ships. However most plastic entering the ocean actually comes from developing countries without the waste management infrastructure to handle the waste.

Citizens in these developing countries have tough choices either burn their trash or dump it somewhere where it will leak into the waterways. Both choices are bad.

Repurpose is giving a third choice where they can collect plastic and turn it in for money and other services to help them rise out of poverty.

An important thing to note is that a lot of wealthy countries ship garbage to developing countries, and that plastic can end up in the ocean.

Examples of plastic entering the ocean

This is a ravine in Guatemala that is used as the community waste dump. The ravine goes straight into a stream that is 50 meters away from the river.

This is the bank of the Maria Linda river. This is used as a dumping spot because when the rain comes it washes the trash straight into the river. Because of these dump sites the Maria Linda river is one of the most polluting rivers in the world.

Tidey vs 4Ocean:

two organizations working to stop ocean plastic

Overview

4Ocean is an organization that works in a few countries around the world to collect ocean plastic. 4Ocean primarily funds their work through selling bracelets. Every bracelet that 4Ocean sells they remove 1 pound of plastic from the ocean.

Tidey is very similar to 4Ocean. Tidey is a newer organization, and our model is to focus on stopping plastic from going into the ocean in the first place. We also have a big focus on creating economic opportunities for people in poverty.

Bracelets

The bracelets that 4Ocean sells fund the collection of 5 pound of ocean plastic.

The Tidey bracelets fund the collection of 10 pounds of ocean/ocean-bound plastic.

Where we work

4Ocean and Tidey both have operations in Guatemala. In addition to Guatemala 4Ocean also works in Indonesia, Florida, and Hawaii.

Plastic Offsetting

Tidey and 4Ocean offer another way to stop plastic pollution by offsetting your plastic use. This means that you can pay to fund the collection of plastic without purchasing any products.

4Ocean is more expensive than Tidey and while Tidey uses a gig-economy style collection method 4Ocean hires fulltime captains and crews to collect the plastic.

Tidey focuses on collecting and recycling plastic. This means that when you fund the cleanup of 1 pound of plastic with Tidey you are funding the collection AND recycling of that plastic.

Other Cleanup Organizations

The Ocean Cleanup

CleanHub

Seven Clean Seas

rePurpose Global

If you want to support our cleanup work check out the businesses that partner with us!