Updated: Feb 3, 2023
You may have seen this pop up in your news feed on your social media or even in an ad on the side of a webpage, perhaps even this one now. You may ask yourself what is 4Ocean and why should you buy or care about their bracelet. Well you should and I am here to tell you.
4Ocean have managed to market and promote the importance of saving our oceans. They have taken the devastation of waste we produce away from the ocean and helped to raise awareness doing so. This is mostly seen with their bracelets, which is a fashion accessory you really should be wearing. Even if you do not want to wear the bracelet you should still purchase one and I hope this article gives you a reason too.
Who are 4Ocean?
4Ocean is an organisation that is dedicated to clearing and preventing the trash polluting our oceans. This is the main reason you should get their bracelet. By purchasing a bracelet, 4Ocean guarantee “1 pound of trash will be removed from the ocean and coastline”. They also help to raise awareness by providing specific legacy bracelets, which focuses on a particular themes or animal to protect. I decided to get the Shark bracelet, which is partnered with Project Aware, which “Helps save Sharks”. Project Aware among many things create rallies to bring safeguards for sharks and rays, hence the name Legacy Shark Bracelet. #4sharks.
As well as collecting trash and raising awareness they focus on using '4 pillars' to achieve this, these are:
Optimising Technology: By using the latest technology to prevent, intercept and remove trash from the ocean and coastline.
Creating Jobs: They have teams and crews of people that are cleaning the ocean 24/7 and this number is increasing.
Education& Awareness: They educate everyone from individuals to governments on the impact of plastic and trash all around the world.
New Economies: They create a value out of the trash they remove,
Did you see what they did there?
The Bracelet
The bracelet whilst looking amazing and promoting your love for this planet and particularly the ocean. It is also a great sustainable accessory. This is because it is made out of 100% recycled materials. The bracelet is a unisex design with glass beads, a 4Ocean stainless steel charm with the cord made from RPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate), which is from recycled water bottles. The beads are made from recycled glass bottles. Further to the greatness of the bracelet, it is 100% waterproof, meaning you won't have to take it off. One bracelet will set you back approximately £16 ($20). However, you should take into account this is not just for the bracelet but also for removing a pound of trash from the ocean and coastline.
4Ocean also produce reusable bottles and a clean-up kit (so you can help clean up the oceans and coastline yourself). However, you could just show your support for ridding the ocean of the waste we produce by getting a bracelet and promoting 4Oceans and their ethos. Hopefully by promoting this the war on plastic and waste will become universally accepted and companies will adopt prevention's to stop negative impacts on the environment. 4Oceans bracelets are one way to promote your love for the ocean and making an impact but there are many more organisations similarly doing amazing things like this. I would love to see what you have done to remove plastic and waste from the ocean and coastline or how you have supported companies or charities like 4Ocean, so show me your support on social media (top right corner).
Updated: Feb 3, 2023
Sustainability is meeting the current need without jeopardising that of our own or someone else’s future. This isn’t just our personal experiences but for all futures economically, socially and environmentally. Some of you may have heard of the ‘R’s’ of sustainability or at least the most common three reduce, reuse, recycling but to me there are a lot more than this. The ‘R’s are aspects to consider through your purchases and actions to make you think economically, socially and environmentally to have a minimal negative impact. They often have the additional benefit of saving you money, which again acts as another incentive to use this list. Below are the 9 ‘R’s in sustainability’ I believe you should use and how you can implement them:
Rethink:
Most of the R’s in the list all revolves around the mind-set of you as an individual and the company or business that create the products for the consumer. The aim is to think about how our actions and purchases affect others and our environment. This is to change our way of thinking to put this to the front of our decision making. This can be from rethinking your whole way of life and becoming a minimalist to being more considerate to where the products you use and purchase come from and their impacts on the environment and workers. To help you with this always think, Do I need this? Where does it come from (raw materials/ ethically produced)? What will happen at its end of life (go to landfill)? What could I do differently to lessen my negative impact?
Refuse:
Before you purchase or use anything always, aim to refuse. By refusing to accept the many poor practices by companies and the harmful & unethical products you will reduce their impact on our world. To know what to refuse, do some research on what you plan on doing, using, buying or creating and does it cause harm to yourself, someone else or the environment and wildlife on this planet. Ensure that any items or products have certification for welfare, equality and sustainable (recyclable) but be wary of these (as some can be misleading) and focus on what the actual impact they have is. Otherwise, refuse to purchase, do or participate in anything that could cause harm. Typically, the most sustainable item you have is the one you already have.
Reduce:
Quite simply try to reduce what you use, take and negatively put back into the environment. Natural resources are continuously depleting and even those that are renewable are struggling to keep up with the rapidly growing population. This is leading to humans further damaging the environment, beyond repair. Try to reduce many aspect of your life that has this negative impact. This can be having quicker showers, buying less processed products, get products with little to no packaging and living a minimalist lifestyle.
Reuse:
Before you think of buying anything new think can you reuse what you already have? Good products are often chucked away well before their end of life, leading to more waste and pollution. Always aim to reduce your waste by reusing and when buying new think about buying something that can be reused in the future. Consider cleaning up, refurbishing or repurposing old items to reuse. The most well-known item that people have started to reuse is shopping bags but this can be implemented to a lot more. This is one of the most prominent issues at the moment and the effect on the natural environment and wildlife. Get products that have more than one use, instead of their disposable counterparts that contribute to waste. Some things you can pick up to help with this are reusable bags, coffee cups, cutlery, straws and water bottles, just to name a few.
Renew:
Even when you think the item is damaged, broken or beyond its use can it be repaired or rebuilt for use again, if not can it be repurposed to be useful in some way. Before you chuck it away, can you renew it to help reduce your waste and save you money? This may require you to learn about refurbishment and how to repair items but leads to less waste and less need to buy. Also, don’t be afraid to ask people how they have renewed or revitalised an old dilapidated item, as they can teach you how to do it yourself.
Recycle:
This is one everyone knows about but is still not done enough. The reason for recycling is to stop waste going to landfill or it finding its way to the environment harming animals, as again seen with the very recently attention to ocean plastic. It important to understand that many product still have its raw materials, which can be sent to factories where these can be obtained and reused. Some of the most common items that get recycled is paper/card, plastic (however, not all plastic can be recycled), glass and metal. All of which can be processed and reused in other products. Also look for additional schemes such as at your local supermarket, which might collect certain items that are not allowed in your local recycling such as batteries and some types of plastics.
Responsibility:
Now it is easy to talk about the implications on the environment and the money you can save through implementing these thought processes but also consider moral, mental and legal accountability of your actions and purchases. How transparent is the company, individual or business? Many companies may seem ethical but source their materials in an unethical way. This can be anything from destroying habitats to having terrible working standards for the people producing them. Try not to endorse or support these companies by buying their products.
Replant:
The rise in crowing crops and buildings has led to the removal of vegetation and deforestation around the globe. However, it is often overlooked that these environments contain many animals and provide the oxygen we breath. To combat the impact we might have to this we need to start replacing this vegetation and the resources it needs to survive (water, nutrients). Always look to companies that replace more than they take from our precious planet and support them instead of others.
Restore:
This is a final step that highlights the importance of returning the damaged environments to its original state or one that is even better than it was. Humans have scarred the earth in many ways but we are able to revitalise these areas to become great ecosystems again. If you can contribute to or participate in reforestation, animal rehabilitation & protection, waste clean-ups and other environmental and ethical projects you are helping to give back what was taken and destroyed. When doing so ensure you do your research and contribute to a worthy course that is actually having an impact, so the environment and wildlife can grow and thrive without further harm or threat.
There are many activities and products that harm the environment or are disgustingly unethical. The R’s in this list aims to help highlight these issue and how they can begin to be mitigated. I always encourage people to look at the bigger picture and the motives of companies and products used and how a simple and easy change can stop the negative impacts you have. If you are passionate about making a change the R’s may even act as a way of life to fully incorporate in everything you do. However, even if you only implement some of these or implement them periodically it will help to reduce the negative impact we have on the world, so please always try to think of the R's of Sustainability.
Updated: Feb 3, 2023
Learning about the concepts that revolves around sustainability is a great way to implement it into your mindset. The only way forward as a human race is to start being sustainable, not only for the plants, wildlife and environment but also for the human race itself. To achieve this it is vital to think about everything you buy, use and effect in a sustainable aspect. Cradle to cradle is a great way to achieve this. Whenever you make a decision think ‘Cradle to cradle’ and you will be doing a better job at being a sustainable, environmental individual and here is why.
So, what is ‘cradle to cradle’?
Cradle to cradle is an approach to all products and systems that takes place from their concept to their end of life. The approach is to implement the thought of the whole life of the product to ensure sustainability is implemented throughout. This is to include where the materials are sourced, how they are sourced, where the product comes from, how it is made and what happens to it at the end of its usable life. The meaning of ‘cradle to cradle’ is that the product will not be discarded and in fact have an end of life plan where it will be reused, remanufacture or even recycled in some way instead of going to landfill and becoming waste. This method looks at the whole life of the product tying it with sustainability and preventing a negative ethical & environmental impact.
In an ideal world a product will be used indefinitely but this is often not the case. Therefore, a huge goal of cradle to cradle in my opinion is the end of life plan for the material and preventing the material going to landfill. Instead the materials that make up the product can be upcycled into another system before the materials are stripped and reprocessed to their raw form for reuse. However, it is important that to achieve this the energy and materials involved in this process of upcycling or recycling a product is not greater than that of a new product and has a lessened negative impact. Finally, if this cannot be achieved, ensuring the final product is biodegradable, compostable or fully recyable at the end of its life can be an alternative.
Another term or view of ‘cradle to cradle’ is regenerative design. This creates a sustainable system through revitalising the original resources of energy and material, whilst meeting the current needs of society with integration of the environment. Cradle to cradle should apply to everyone who will be buying a product but mostly to anyone who is creating anything. If you are creating a product in any form, you should think about its whole life and how future generations will have to deal with it when it is not usable any more.
How do you know?
Now you know about the ‘cradle to cradle’ mind-set, how do you know if ‘cradle to cradle’ has been implmented to a product. Well sometimes it can be quite easy and you can do a quick check to see if there are any labels on the product highlighting this. This can be specifically ‘cradle to cradle’ but can also be badges/labels of sustainability, eco-friendliness, ethical (fair trade) or recyclability. Most of these will tell you what will happen to the product at the end of the products life and how it is made, so you should look out for them on the product or website. Secondly, you may have to do some research and take some time to learn about the product itself to fully understand its lifecycle. As you gain an understanding of what items are cradle to cradle you will have an understanding of what is likely to achieve the ‘cradle to cradle’ concept. Finally, you should not hesitate to ask, many companies don’t promote that they have some sort of take back scheme where they can recycled or reuse the materials in the product but do have them and sometimes even collect the item from you for free. You have done your first step by simply understanding the concept, so you are also in a position to make your own judgement.
My thoughts!
I think the ‘cradle to cradle’ approach is tremendously needed. It is vital that this is implemented in all walks of life, from the cloths we buy to the materials we use in construction. It is fundamentally needed for millions of product to stop this huge wasteful culture we have at the moment. There is no doubting that resources are running out with the rapidly growing population, the ever-advancing technologies and the demand for them and we need to find ways to claim back these depleting materials or find alternatives to them. I am hoping the cradle to cradle concept will lead to new methods, attitudes and forms of production that achieve this sustainable goal. I also hope that you start to buy and encourage this mind-set to further grow its popularity and reach. However, I’d love to know what your thoughts are on the ‘cradle to cradle’ approach and how you think it could be implemented to improve everyday items that at the moment fail to achieve it.
