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Out there beyond the horizon...past the crashing tumult of the surf...undulating on the ocean
surface...lie large soups of trash.
The pacific ocean hosts two of five of these human-made collections of garbage.
Each of which is the result of currents called gyres gathering the 8 million metric tons
of trash that flow into the ocean annually.
These gyres are the trash compactors of the ocean.
They loosely collect the ocean’s trash all into five giant areas.
But imagine if there was a way to actually clean up these massive amounts of waste by
simply buying a bracelet.
It turns out there is.
Two Florida surfers created a company called 4ocean to do exactly that.
They sell bracelets to fund a large-scale ocean cleanup effort.
But can purchasing a recycled glass and plastic bracelet actually translate into less trash
in the ocean?
Today, I’m going to ask a simple question: is 4ocean legit?
More specifically, is what they say they do (using revenue from bracelets to clean up
ocean trash) actually happening?
The core of 4Ocean’s operating model lies in one big difference from many other ocean
conservation or clean-up groups: it’s a for-profit company.
Co-founder Andrew Cooper explains this decision to keep 4ocean a for-profit as an opportunity
to show the moral capability of the private sector: “Everything around you is brought
to you by the private sector, why can’t the private sector do more good?
Why can’t we create a company, a for-profit, that can do good, that’s mission-driven…
We really wanted to break the model and to challenge ourselves and challenge the private
sector.”
Essentially, 4ocean has managed to leverage their bracelets (which are made from recycled
materials but not necessarily the exact trash is taken from the ocean) to create a number
of clean-up operations.
Unlike other companies based loosely around causes--like Patagonia, Toms or Tesla--4ocean
seeks to put their trash clean-up mission first and their products second.
Their central claim is that for every bracelet you buy, 1 pound of trash gets cleaned up
from the ocean.
And yes, 4ocean definitely does clean up trash.
They’ve hired over 300 employees, 100 of which are full-time that help collect garbage
with the three B’s: “Boots, boats, and booms.
So that’s boots on the ground, on the beaches, boats on the water, and booms at river mouths.”
They also host community events for people to volunteer and learn about the ocean trash
epidemic.
But 4ocean is adamant in their claim that the trash volunteers collect doesn’t count
towards their “pull a pound” promise.
Over the past two years, Cooper claims that 4ocean has cleaned up over 6 million pounds
(2.7 million kg) of trash from the ocean according to their internal calculator.
They then take all of this garbage, sort it, recycle that which can be recycled, incinerate
some of the garbage that can’t, and find other solutions for the rest, like sending
tires to a devulcanization plant for reuse on playgrounds.
In short, 4ocean definitely seems to be cleaning up trash from the oceans.
A fact which the third party Better Business Bureau audits every couple of months by matching
receipts to trash counts.
As of right now, the company has received an A+. 4ocean is even working on a “link
on the website where you can click the trash tracker and you can search by location and
by date, and you can look at ‘March 16th, 2017’, what did 4ocean clean up, what did
it look like, what were the contents?”
But as much good as 4ocean’s clean-up efforts do, it’s still just a band-aid solution
to a systemic problem, a fact that Cooper readily admits: “4ocean is not about the
number of bracelets we sell…
Bracelet sales will never be the solution to removing plastic from the ocean.
It’s a movement that is going to require everyone in the world’s participation.
Specifically, the decision-makers of the world that are in charge of waste management infrastructure
and plastic packaging.”
As a result, 4ocean has recently started to leverage its brand to influence companies
and municipalities in what they call their upstream approach.
4ocean partnered with Air Canada to eliminate all of its single-use plastics on its aircraft
and is now in the process of working with two local government bodies to create better
waste management systems.
That being said, Cooper stressed that their relationships with these two municipalities
are currently tentative.
Admittedly, when I initially started this research process I was wary of 4Ocean in large
part because they seemed to lack a needed amount of transparency especially when it
came to where the revenue from the bracelets actually went.
Considering that each bracelet retails for $20, it seemed like there should be more clarity
around how that considerable amount of money is used.
After two years, Cooper says the company is honing in on transparency and messaging.
Indeed, Cooper was more than willing to share details about financials: “Just to be transparent,
we’ve sold 4.2 million bracelets.
We very recently, like within the past couple of weeks released our personal tax returns
and all of our business financials to the Better Business Bureau to be a third party
verifier that Alex and I have each only paid ourself .7% of all the revenue generated from
day one.”
And according to Cooper that revenue rings in north of 50 million dollars.
All of the rest of that 98.6% gets put back into the company in form of R&D for their
new line of products, administration, infrastructure, supply chain research, and wages for their
clean-up crews, whom according to Cooper, earn a living wage, but the wages are relative
to where employees live, so they could vary wildly.
With all of this in mind, I think it is still important to stay vigilant about financials.
While it is notable that Cooper shared part of their finances, it’s even more important
that back they back up these claims with data.
4ocean needs to earn the trust of its customers not through ads, digital marketing, or words,
but through transparent communication and action.
If done right, like in the case of Ecosia, who publish a monthly detailed breakdown of
their financial reports and tree planting receipts, it would be way easier to spend
that $20 with a clear conscience.
At the end of the day, over 6 million pounds (2.7 million kg) of trash is an impressive
feat to clean up, but considering that over 17 billion pounds (8 billion kg) of plastic
enter the ocean each year, 4ocean’s tally is unfortunately just a drop in the bucket.
The fact that that this two-year-old company seems to be not only thinking about the downstream
effects of plastic, but also the upstream sources of it, is encouraging.
In terms of transparency, Cooper made clear that they are trying hard to show that they
are not just talking the talk, but are also walking the walk.
He even went so far as to suggest: “If the Better Business Bureau isn’t the best one,
I’d like to hear people in the comments suggest one that’s better, and we’re open
to partner with them.
We literally want to offer as much transparency as possible.”
So, at the end of the day, yes, the money from their bracelets is contributing to ocean
clean-up efforts and advocacy work trying to minimize plastic consumption and waste.
But that’s not to say 4ocean is the only option.
There are plenty of nonprofits like The Ocean Cleanup or the Surfrider Foundation that are
doing similar work.
So, it’s important to do your research.
There are other videos and guides that together can help you make an informed decision.
And it’s also key continue having conversations about whether for-profit companies can ever
fix a capitalist structural problem.
In other words, can the private sector reform from the inside out?
If the answer is no, then it’s important to mindfully navigate our relationship to
companies like 4ocean.
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Charlie here.
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