After graduating from Florida Atlantic University in 2014 Andrew Cooper and Alex Schulze took a surfing trip to Bali. When they were there they were appalled by the about of trash in the ocean. They saw local fisherman pushing their boats through piles of plastics. After seeing these fishermen struggle to make ends meet and also the disturbance of plastic Alex and Andrew decide to help these fishermen and remove the plastic. In 2017, Andrew and Alex founded 4ocean, which started by hiring these local fishermen to collect plastic instead of fishing. 4ocean began to sell bracelets to help raise awareness and spark a conversation about plastic pollution. As of 10/3/2022, the 4ocean crew has removed over 20 million pounds of trash from the world’s oceans, rivers, and coastlines. To fund the plastic removal efforts, 4ocean sells bracelets. These bracelets are made from 95% recycled materials and have all different colors that represent different animals that live in the ocean like sharks, turtles, dolphins, or seahorses. 4ocean is on track to be able to remove over 1 million pounds of trash in 2022.
As a customer of 4ocean, it’s nice to see this company thrive. I have multiple bracelets from 4ocean and love seeing them give updates about the trash they have pulled out of the ocean. I even follow them on Instagram to see what going on in the company.
It is super interesting that this company, 4ocean, started simply as a vocation and ended up turning into a business that helps our environmental sustainability. The bracelets serving as a symbol of the service 4ocean provides is an excellent way to build a profit and also serve God’s creation.
I think this is so cool how this business came about. I have seen this business in many stores and every time I did want to buy one. I love the cause and the way it looks, not to mention that people love bracelets like me! I love how they employed the fisherman to help gather the trash as a way to include them and allow them to still be out on the water. Not to mention that something that is recycled with 95% trash is really really good. I love that they are helping the giant issue of trash in our world, polluting us today.
I knew of 4ocean so it was very interesting to read about! It is very sad the amount of trash and plastic that is laying around land and the ocean and how much it can negatively affect the environment, so I love being able to see this company thrive! We need people to help and I am so thankful that there are people like this! Crazy that through a surfing trip to Bali, how much can change after that, it is inspiring! Thank you!
I really like their idea of not only helping out the local fishermen and sea life by cleaning up the ocean, but also turning the garbage they collect into a way to advertise and further fund their business.
I like how there is a social aspect to this Entrepreneurship story. I rarely think about how much waste is put into the ocean but it is a serious problem so It is good that people are as dedicated as 4Ocean in trying to improve the situation and funding it in an interesting way.