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4Ocean – Andrew Cooper & Alex Schulze

Posted by Laura Mosley

· Sunday, September 15th, 2019

· 1 Comment

(L to R) Alex Schulze and Andrew Cooper owners of 4Ocean, a company that actively removes trash from the ocean. Photo by Tim Stepien.

I’m sure we’ve all seen ads from time to time about 4Ocean – the company that sells bracelets and puts money towards cleaning up our oceans. In the last few months, I’ve seen an increase in these ads before Youtube videos and I’ve wondered who it is that’s behind this endeavor.

As it turns out, there are two people: Andrew Cooper and Alex Schulze. Recently, these two made it to the 2019 edition of the Forbes 30 Under 30 for their efforts. So how did it all start?

In 2015, Cooper and Schulze went on a surfing trip to Bali and were appalled by the amount of plastic they found in the ocean. As we are learning in class, they found trouble and sought to fix it. By 2017, they were selling the bracelets we all know of today as a way to fund the cleanup effort. According to the organization, the bracelets are made of recycled materials and each represents a pound of trash that will be removed. 4Ocean has since created more products to help fund the effort, but the bracelets remain the most widely known. According to an article in PR Newswire, “By creating jobs, utilizing the latest technology and raising awareness about the impact of trash in the ocean, the company is building the first economy for ocean plastic and creating a cleaner, more sustainable future for the ocean.”

Cooper and Schulze are excellent examples of entrepreneurs who used their passion to change how the world sees a problem. They are both surfers, fishermen, and divers. They spend much of their time around the water and were perfectly suited to see and frame the problem of plastic in the ocean in a way that many people around the world have not known. They did not just say that there was a problem, but they showed pictures and gave people a simple way that they could help – all with the easy purchase of a recycled bracelet. Every time a customer would look at the bracelet, they would be reminded of the ongoing problem and the fight to clean the world’s oceans. By presenting the problem in a way that gave people something easy to do and inspiring them with the need, they made the daunting task of cleaning up the oceans seem very possible and even exciting.

Sources:

https://4ocean.com/about/

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/4ocean-co-founders-andrew-cooper-and-alex-schulze-named-forbes-30-under-30-social-entrepreneurs-300750165.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/07/4oceans-cleaned-up-1-million-pounds-of-ocean-garbage.html

1 Comment

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Business, Clean water, Enviornmental, Great Ideas, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Ocean, Outdoors, Recycling

Plastic Clothing?

Posted by GoseNP18

· Monday, October 22nd, 2018

· 5 Comments

Turning plastic into clothing came from a brother-sister duo at Colgate University. Growing up right by the beach, the brother and sister noticed a waste problem. They realized they wanted to do something about the problem and came up with a solution. The duo pitched an idea to turn plastic bottles into swimwear, earning them $20,000 at a mock Shark Tank. After winning, they raised nearly $25,000 more, and ended up launching the company, Fair Harbor Clothing. The concept is very neat and is quite simple, bottles are broken down into polyfibers which are then spun into yarn and sewn into clothing. The duo started selling by going to over 200 Trunk Shows. Today, the business has grown greatly, Fair Harbor worked with the Brooklyn Fashion and Design Accelerator to create board shorts and woman’s swimsuits using 11 plastic bottles and a little bit of cotton and spandex for shaping.

The plastic to clothing design is very innovative and is a great idea. I think this idea is a great way to help with global cleanliness and waste reduction, a large problem in the world today. They take and use 11 bottles for clothing and the company is continuing to grow their inventory and options which helps to use even more recycling. I think it would be cool if they took bottles and other plastics straight from the ocean and helped to clean the earth by recycling and actually cleaning the ocean. However, the company is a great idea and is great for the planet and society.

5 Comments

Categories : Business, Clean water, Creating, Engineering, Great Ideas, Manufacturing, Recycling, Shark Tank, Sustainable, Technology, Uncategorized, Upcycling

How Saving the Fishies Saved Sand Cloud

Posted by nakhlacn17

· Saturday, September 15th, 2018

· 2 Comments

An Instagram search of the hashtag #savethefishies results in nearly 126,000 public posts, most featuring azure oceans, sea creatures, and people enjoying the beach. The road to this level of success was much less leisurely for Bruno Aschidamini, Steven Ford, and Brandon Liebel, but their love for the ocean and the atmosphere of a self-made entrepreneurial career eventually brought them there.

“The blind faith that we had to pursue freedom and become an entrepreneur—we never questioned it once,” says Aschidamini of Sand Cloud, the environmental-friendly beach towel brand now grossing over $7 million in annual revenue. Back when the business began in 2013 there was no way the three young Californian entrepreneurs could have known the challenges and alterations they’d have to face before their entrepreneurial endeavor, then known as “Cloud Nine,” would finally become the widespread popular business is today.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmPCYASA-Do/?hl=en&taken-by=sand_cloud

Their initial product concept was a towel with an attached pillow, designed for taking naps on the beach; however, they weren’t selling nearly enough at the time to account for all the other expenses attached to a startup—a warehouse, trademarks, and the irreconcilable cost of buying the towels in bulk. The three compartmentalized their lives into a tiny apartment on a strict budget with the intention of investing everything into the business. At a surf expo in 2015, they were attempting unsuccessfully to market the pillow towel, when they discovered that the public was much more interested in a mandala-design towel without an attached pillow. Accepting that their original idea was not catching on and that for the sake of business they’d have to substitute it with something they saw as less innovative was a struggle.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BleDdlgBLwK/?hl=en&taken-by=sand_cloud

However, adjustment of their original idea turned out to be a game changer. Sales soared on the new product, a lightweight, sand-free towel crafted from Turkish cotton and sold in a variety of designs, and Sand Cloud has since added accessories, T-shirts, water bottles, and jewelry to their market. In 2016, Ford, Liebel, and Aschidamini appeared on Shark Tank, which generated even more publicity and gained them an investment. Furthermore, their newly revamped business is now focused around a mission, which they fulfill by donating a percentage of their profits to various marine conservation organizations. I myself, along with others, have had the opportunity to promote them as a social media ambassador. Choosing to invest their resources in a cause important to them has bred immense loyalty with Sand Cloud’s customers, and their willingness to adapt to their market has been instrumental in granting them success.

Shop their website: https://www.sandcloud.com/

Learn More: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/31/how-sand-cloud-got-on-shark-tank-and-made-millions.html

2 Comments

Categories : Clean water, Recycling, Shark Tank

Tags : beach, environmental, sandcloud, sharktank, towels

Fair Harbor Company, Helping Save The Oceans.

Posted by AyersJD1

· Thursday, September 13th, 2018

· 1 Comment

Fair Harbor Company is a clothing company that sells swimsuits, sounds normal right? The interesting thing is that this company makes swimsuits out of recycled bottles, they also make clothing through recycled polyester. The company idea was started by Jake Danehy. The company name comes from a summer spot, called Fair Harbor, that he and his family went to during the summers. Over time he and his sister Caroline developed a deep love for the ocean. Later while studying geography at Colgate University he was moved by how much damage was being dealt to the oceans. So entering Colgate’s version of Shark-Tank, along with his fashion minded sister Caroline, they debuted Fair Harbor company. They won a 20,000$ grant to start their company.

Even with this grant they have faced challenges and mistakes with starting and keeping the company going. But the duo are continuing onward and striving to always make a superior product. They intend to show how plastic can be used for so many other things. And how plastic is not just a one time use product, and their way of showing that is by making swimsuits out of plastic.

Company Website

http://www.fairharborclothing.com

More Info on the company

http://www.inc.com/maisie-devine/these-millennial-siblings-are-building-a-multi-million-dollar-fashion-company-from-ocean-pollution.html

1 Comment

Categories : Clean water, Clothing, Fashion, Sustainable

4Ocean

Posted by BrodnickiJF17

· Tuesday, October 17th, 2017

· 3 Comments

4Ocean was founded by two surfers who noticed the overwhelming amount of trash that litters the ocean. Deciding to act, Andrew Cooper and Alex Schulze started the organization. 4Ocean is an organization that cleans trash out of the ocean. They work with volunteers to do beach cleanups, partnerships with other cleanup organizations, and even have offshore cleanups. The offshore cleanups are done by the organization’s seven vessels that are out there seven days a week cleaning up the ocean. To fund the cleanups, 4Ocean sells bracelets online for just $20. Every bracelet bought pays for the removal of a pound of trash. The bracelets are made from recycled materials, including glass and plastic. Because of two surfers’ care for the ocean and willingness to do something about it, 140,188 pounds of trash and debris have been cleaned from not only coastlines and beaches, but also directly from the ocean.

https://4ocean.com/

3 Comments

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Clean water, Outdoors

Better Life Bags

Posted by Caroline Parker

· Friday, December 2nd, 2016

· 2 Comments

What started as a personal craft project grew to an Etsy store, to a Pinterest phenomenon, and then to a full-scale business- helping people all along the way.

Rebecca Smith made herself a diaper bag, posting the images on Facebook; she was very unaware of what an impact those images going public would have. She received many compliments suggesting and inspiring her to start an Etsy shop selling these bags. The shop is called Better Life Bags, in reference to 10% of profits being donated to people in third world countries helping them start their own businesses. The bags, in addition to being practical and cute, allow the customer to pick from a wide variety of fabrics and leathers letting one totally customize the accessory.

BLB allows you to chooses the leather and fabric colors to create a bag perfectly matching your style. [via]

When a well-known blogger, and then her many followers, saw the brilliance of this customization and pinned one of her bags, orders flooded in. The number of orders far exceeded what Rachel’s one-woman operation could fill. Faced with the decision to either quit the business or expand, she rejected the idea of moving production overseas reaching out instead to women in her neighborhood. Smith lives in a neighborhood swirling with diversity and filled with women who have “various barriers to employment,” whether they be cultural or religious. A neighbor from Yemen, Nadia, who is unable to leave her home to work, became Rachel’s first employee. As the business has grown, Rachel has been able to hire many other local women allowing them to provide simple necessities like food and furniture for their families.

These charming bags with cute, customizable colors & choice craftsmanship really live up to their name. Not only will they make your life better, they help Rachel Smith employee those in her community with barriers to employment.

2 Comments

Categories : Clean water, Fashion, Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Social Entrepreneur, Uncategorized, Women Entrepreneurs

Tags : entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, millennial entrepreneur, social entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship

United by Blue

Posted by Rebekah Fry

· Friday, December 12th, 2014

· 1 Comment

Founded in 2010, United by Blue is a Philadelphia based company that produces responsible & durable goods with a mission to keep the beautiful outdoors clean and ready for life’s next adventure.

“We believe that every living creature is united by the blue of our world’s oceans and waterways and we all have the responsibility to protect them.”

UBB uses only sustainable materials to make each product while donating their time to environmental action with each purchase. “For every product sold, UBB removes one pound of trash from oceans and waterways through company organized and hosted cleanups.”

Located in Old City, Philadelphia, they “use re-purposed materials…creat[ing] a space that mixes [their] complete line of apparel and accessories with a full-fledged coffeehouse serving up some of the city’s finest organic coffee and food.”

Their brand mainly focuses on producing outdoor apparel that will withstand continuous adventure. “We’re inspired by the go-getters, the landscape around the waters we clean, and a really good cup of pour over coffee.”

In the everyday clutter, for-profit businesses must stand above the competition. United by Blue captured the essence of putting a twist on the common retailer. I’m inspired by their mission to make the world a better place through sustainable materials. The millennial generation loves supporting causes and identifying with products, companies, organizations, etc. who contribute more than the banality of the everyday. These young entrepreneurs desire to not only share their passion for sustainable goods, but also give back to our community and earth. With countless other one-for-one businesses, UBB promises to support not just monetarily, but by giving their time as well.

To learn more about their company please visit http://unitedbyblue.com/pages/about-us.

#bluemovement

1 Comment

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Clean water, Great Ideas, Online Companies

SunSaluter

Posted by Casey Compton

· Friday, September 19th, 2014

· 5 Comments

Energy and clean, drinkable water are two privileges that we often take for granted in the United States. Energy is a luxury in some underdeveloped nations, as it is very difficult to make traditional means of conducting energy available in remote areas. Similarly, clean water is limited and not easily accessible. SunSaluter took both of these crucial needs and created a product that addresses both of them.

Developed by Eden Full, SunSaluter is a gravity-powered device in which solar panels follow the rotation of the sun, while filtering at least four liters of water a day. Solar-powered energy panels are heavy, expensive, hard to install, and do not harvest as much energy as possible, because they do not always face the sun. The SunSaluter rotates so that it is in sync with the sun, producing 40% more energy than traditional solar panels. Furthermore, the SunSaluter is easy to install, assemble, and maintain. While the SunSaluter is collecting energy, it is also purifying water, by having a drip mechanism attached to the end of the device. This innovative product solves two extremely important issues and is so simple that even a child can operate it. So far, there have been two successful projects in Kenya, and the product will soon be used in Peru and India as well.

Eden Full is a senior in Mechanical Engineering at Princeton. Starting from a young age, she was interested in engineering and solar energy. At ten years old, Full noticed that her solar panels were not getting maximum exposure to the sun. She began to work with ideas on how to rotate the panels, and at 19, Full had developed the SunSaluter. Instead of pursuing engineering for her own pleasure, or to earn a high income, Full focuses her attention on helping other people, saying: “I don’t just want to tinker because it’s fun for me. I want it to have an impact on someone else.” Eden was able to make a difference when she was young, by applying a great invention with a great need. As young entrepreneurs, we can follow her example of identifying a problem and creating a simple and innovative way to address it.

5 Comments

Categories : Clean water, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Social Entrepreneur, Solar Power