While on a surfing trip to Bali, Indonesia Andrew Cooper and Alex Schulze were struck by the amount of plastic waste filling the oceans. Having grown up in Florida themselves, they feel a deep connection to the sea and all it provides and protects. Cooper and Schulze discussed this issue with local fisherman to get an idea of the ramifications this has on their livelihoods. After their conversations they decided to start an organization that staffs full time crews to rid the ocean of this unwanted waste.
Wanting to have a product to make from the recovered plastic, Cooper and Schulze decided to create bracelets as a “wearable symbol of their mission that would spark conversations about plastic pollution and it would act as a physical reminder to people to make ocean-minded choices like refusing single-use plastics.”
4Ocean has recovered 26,326,650 pounds of trash since 2017. Their unique approach as one of the few organizations that solely targets ocean clean-up has made a huge impact in communities and the world as a whole. Working in twelve locations, with seventeen vessels, 4Ocean employs 185 crew members who clean our waters.
This image comes from 4Ocean’s Osbourne Reef Tire Cleanup, where they work to remove hundreds of thousands of tires that have found their way to the ocean floor.
This is an interesting idea. I see how they are taking a problem that is nearly universal and fixing it. I also think that it provides great value that they are not only fixing the problem, but they are offering the betterment of the earth as a product, while also offering a physical product like the bracelet. It is also neat how they have a personal connection to the ocean, growing up in Florida and being surfers and it can really help them to capitalize on their story as they ask for investments. I also find it interesting that they were able to grow to 17 vessels in 5 years. I believe that those numbers prove the demand for that market and who knows how big they will be in another 5 years as I predict demand will continue to increase.
I really enjoyed reading this article ! 4Ocean was always a great idea to me. They took an outstanding problem that needed solved and found a solution through creating a business around it. I have also always supported creating a cleaner ocean. I also have multiple bracelets from 4Ocean and have gifted them to other people. It can honestly be sad in some cases that so many companies are created from the fallen world that we live and businesses are created to help fix that.
I think it is cool that these two guys not only decided to do something about the pollution in the ocean, but also managed to turn the collected garbage they collected into a product that will further help them to complete their original goal of cleaning and making people aware of the amount of pollution in the world’s oceans.