Ocean Plastic Products
Table of Contents
Introduction
Ocean plastic is among the greatest threats to ocean life.
More than anything else, our species needs to curb plastic production. This means ending subsidies and convincing companies to use something other than plastic in their products or packaging.
Recycling also needs to be improved, but most plastics can't be recycled, and the rest generally can't be reused more than once.
About this Page
By creating this page, there is a risk that we send the incorrect message that "plastic is OK as long as we recycle and make something cool out of it", but that isn't our intension!
This page is merely a guide so that people can help support plastic removal from our oceans and the adoption of circular economy practices, instead of buying less-sustainable products. We have not tried the products on this page, and can't advocate for their quality (any feedback is appreciated!). We simply hope that by making such products easier to find, we'll help support these programs, which may in turn encourage other companies to offer greener products in the future.
Our Food Chain
Even the smallest pieces can harm wildlife as once creature may eat it and due to compaction of plastic in their guts or suffocation, they can die. Larger animals feeding on these dead animals then consume the plastic, and the plastic continues up the food chain, increasingly ending up on human plates or livestock troughs.
Ghost Nets
Plastic nets and other fishing gear make up around half of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, about about 10% of total (identifiable) ocean plastic.
Ghost gear can take around 700 years to break down, during which time they can pick up bacteria and viruses which are spread wherever the nets go. When they smother reefs, this can make the corals sick or even die. Ghost gear captures animals including endangered turtles, dolphins, and whales. When animals struggle or die, their bodies attract more victims who are then captured, and the cycle of death continues till the nets are removed or they finally break down.
Microplastics
Most microplastics appear to come from synthetic clothing (contaminated water from our washing machines dumps tons of microfibers into rivers and oceans each year) as well as flakes shedded from tires on roads.
Carpets & Rugs
Atlantic Mats: Ocean Mats and Runners "Doormats and runners made from ocean and landfill waste"
Sandringham Carpets: Maribella "This beautiful velvet carpet is woven from ECONYL®, a yarn manufactured from recycled waste material including abandoned fishing nets retrieved from many of the World’s oceans.
The nets are retrieved by the charity Healthy Seas, and we have partnered with them to support this incredibly worthy cause. A percentage of the sale of every Maribella carpet will be donated to Healthy Seas to enable them to continue the fantastic work they are doing."Sandringham Carpets: Oceana "We are delighted to launch another eco-friendly carpet, and sister to Maribella – Oceania. This range as the same superb qualities, but is even thicker and softer under foot, whilst retaining the same fantastic environment credentials too.
This beautiful velvet carpet is woven from ECONYL®, a yarn manufactured from recycled waste material including abandoned fishing nets retrieved from many of the World’s oceans. The nets are retrieved by the charity Healthy Seas."
SEDNA Carpet " is soft, luxurious and durable. It is made with ECONYL® regenerated nylon, a yarn made from recycled waste material such as old carpets and abandoned fishing nets collected from the bottom of the sea. Sedna® thus helps to save thousands of beautiful sea creatures like sea turtles, dolphins and seals that will no longer get stuck in this life-threatening waste.
Moreover, Sedna® carpet has an ECO FusionBac textile back, made from 100% recycled PET plastic bottles."Object Carpet offers a variety of carpets including several made from ECOLYN and Aquafil yarns.
Clothing
Adidas: Tennis This line is supposedly made using ocean plastic, but we couldn't find what the percent of composition is.
The Beachwear Capsule These sets of "mens wear" use ocean plastic, while the shoes feature biobased plastic soles.
NetPlus® "With NetPlus, we’re turning one of the most harmful forms of plastic pollution into something you can wear again and again." Includes shorts, coats, and hats.
Patagonia: Dirt Craft Bike Pants - Women's "Made with Prevented Ocean Plastic recycled polyester that's certified by OceanCycle and sourced from coastal communities at risk of plastic pollution"
Prada Re-Nylon "Obtained through the recycling and purification process of plastic waste collected from oceans, fishing nets, and textile fibre waste, the ECONYL® yarn is regenerated through a process of depolymerization and re-polymerisation and can be recycled indefinitely, with no loss of quality." Some of their products can be seen here.
RubyMoon "We transform ocean waste into activewear, creating half the carbon footprint"
Bags
Nixon Backpacks, Stash Bags, Cooler, Slings, etc.
Parley: Ocean Bags Made with Parley Ocean Plastic, collected by our global cleanup network, Parley Ocean Bags help avoid single use plastic while funding future cleanups.
Solgaard: Shore-Tex™ Daypack "our first everyday backpack made entirely from recycled ocean plastics. Feel good knowing you’re helping save the oceans, one bag at a time."
Wallets
Footwear
Parley & Adidas sports shoes
Socks
Forebel: Sea Socks This brand offers a variety of socks made from materials including cotton, seaweed, and ocean plastic.
Glasses
Bureo: Sunglasses Made from 100% fishing net material.
Parley: Clean Waves Frames "feature GPS coordinates of the specific place on our planet you’re helping to protect through cleanups, education and infrastructure projects." This company has a return policy and can send you a return kit. They also offer a recycling program which gives you 10% off your next purchase.
Sea2See "is a seastainable eyewear brand made in Italy with recycled marine plastic, collected thanks to the fishermen that collaborate with the Sea2see Foundation."
Waterhaul "We utilise the strongest form of plastic in our oceans to produce exceptionally sustainable, recycled eyewear.
Designed that meets the technical demands of adventure, ocean-exposure and UV protection, but also acts as a ‘symbol of change’ for our oceans.
Every pair Waterhaul frames comes with a lifetime warranty, because they are made from nets that would last decades in the ocean."
Jewelry
Bracelets & Anklets
Bead The Change offers bracelets made from ocean plastics.
Bracenet "Save the seas. Wear a net."
La Garza Bermuda has several eco-friendly jewelry collections including one which uses ocean plastics from their beaches.
Nurdle in the Rough "strives to remove and transform as much plastic from the coastlines of Hawaii as possible."
4Ocean: All Products "Rep the clean ocean movement and raise awareness about plastic pollution with our recycled bracelets and anklets, curb your plastic habit with our reusable water bottles, make a splash about plastic pollution on every adventure with our backpack beach chairs, and pull five pounds of trash from the world’s oceans, rivers, and coastlines with every item purchased."
Underwear
Sperry: Women's Sustainable Cushioned Performance 3-Pack Liner "Crafted with breathable mesh and lightweight construction, these women's twisted liner socks strike an ideal balance between sleek style and comfort. Blended with BIONIC® yarn that’s spun from plastic bottles found in our oceans..."
Watches
Nixon Watches & Straps
Dining & Take Out
Bento / Packed Lunched / Take Out Boxes
Marine Debris Bakelite Bento Box "Marine Debris Bakelite is a new material created from 100% plastic washed out of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch onto Australian beaches.
The Bento box has been designed to be used as a compact snack box, to keep you from getting hangry, but it's equally as useful as a little storage box, or toiletries container. What's more, by purchasing one the user is literally removing that much plastic from the ocean. Mass production has never been so embraceable: the more we consume the more we clean up the ocean!"
Furniture
Chairs
Office Chairs
Noho "Our furniture is made from sustainable ingredients like castor beans, old carpets and recycled fishing nets. We make everything here in Wellington, New Zealand, that way we can keep a close eye on quality and waste and ensure only renewable (and positive) energy is used throughout the process.
Games & Toys
Toys
Jenga® Ocean™ & Bureo "The first board game made from recycled fishing nets. Jenga Ocean is made from over 25 square feet of nets proudly sourced through Bureo's Net Positiva recycling program." "Featuring threatened marine animal block designs, players of Ocean Jenga® are encouraged to 'Save the Animals' through special edition rules. Learning about the damaging impact of discarded fishing nets, which account for 10% of plastic pollution in the ocean, players will gain an understanding of how discarded nets are harming marine animals, and learn about what they can do to help."
Hygiene & Self Care
Kevin Murphy: REPAIR-ME-WASH "We at KEVIN.MURPHY have to inform you that we cannot currently supply 100% Ocean Waste Plastic (OWP) packaging. Our packaging supplier made us aware of this situation and also said they cannot guarantee that our current packaging that has 100% OWP on the label is in fact accurate. We are now exploring ideas to make sure our packaging leaves the smallest footprint possible for the next generation. See More"
Preserve Ocean Plastic Initiative (POPI): Toothbrushes and Razors
Pet Supplies
Dog Supplies
Currently companies that capture ocean waste and help recycle it into dog supplies include:
Dog Toys
"Made from 88% zero-waste Zogoflex, 12% reclaimed ocean-bound plastic, and 0% bad stuff. No latex. No Phthalates. No BPA."
Dog Food Placemat
Sports Gear
Bike Gear
Accessories
Bontrager Bat Cage Water Bottle Cage "A classic water bottle cage made from recycled ocean plastics. By giving new use to fishing nets collected in coastal communities of Chile, the Bat Cage is helping keep plastic waste out of our oceans."
Helmets
Dashel: Ocean Helmet "Choosing to reuse rather than recycle where possible, we have collaborated with Bracenet to create our Ocean Edition cycle helmet: a range of upcycled cosmetic seconds that are perfectly imperfect. No two helmets are the same, and 5€ from every purchase supports valuable marine conservation work through the charity Healthy Seas."
Dashel X Bracenet: Ocean Edition Cycle Helmet "Ghost net carrying loop – use it to attach lights to your helmet"
Kali: Cascade has bamboo padding, and several recycled plastic components including a visor made from recycled ocean plastic.
Skate Boarding
Bureo: 'The Minnow' "the first skateboard deck made from recycled fishing nets. This 25" cruiser is paired with 30% veggie oil wheels and premium marine grade hardware to bring you a quality ride. Each skateboard prevents more than 30 square feet of harmful plastic fishing nets from entering our oceans while providing support to local Chilean fishing communities. Made in Chile."
Surfing
Futures Fins: Alpha Netplus "Made in Huntington Beach, California, the Alpha product line is made by incorporating Bureo’s NetPlus recycled fishing nets with Futures’ compound 6 Carbon and Air infused technology. NetPlus material is sourced from Bureo’s fishing net recycling program in Chile, which provides collection points to keep plastic fishing nets out of our oceans. Preventing harmful materials from entering the ocean, their program protects wildlife and supports local fishing communities through financial incentives."
Technology
Computer Parts & Accessories
Mouse
Microsoft: Ocean Plastic Mouse A Bluetooth mouse made from 20% recycled ocean plastic. This runs on a single AA battery and comes in recyclable packaging.
Misc.
Suitcases
Solgaard: Luggage "Unpack in seconds with our patented shelving system suitcases. This award-winning collection comes in four sizes for however you travel." "Each order cleans up 6 lbs of ocean-bound plastic from coastal communities."
We couldn't determine if these were made of ocean plastic, or if just a portion of the sale goes to cleaning up ocean plastic.
Organizations
This section lists organizations who work with companies, charities, the public, etc. to help network and educate, so that anyone can be part of the solution to ocean plastic.
International
Healthy Seas "was founded in 2013 to tackle the ghost fishing phenomenon which is responsible for the needless death of marine animals. Through cleanups with volunteer divers and by working with stakeholders of the fishing sector toward marine litter prevention, we collect waste nets and ensure they become a valuable resource."
Plastic Bank "Accelerate your environmental and social impact goals with our traceable solutions." "Traceability is at the heart of Social Recycling. Our proprietary blockchain-secured platform records every transaction and gives traceability to your impact."
Precious Plastic "You can start or join one of these Precious Plastic spaces in your town and start tackling the plastic waste problem. Right now!"
North America
Net Your Problem this organization's "mission is to engage a variety of stakeholders and partners to create an economically viable pathway to recycle end of life fishing gear, improve waste management, contribute to the circular economy, and reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions related to virgin plastic production." They have locations in Canada and the USA, but have to send their harvested netting to Europe for recycling.
Tools & Equipment for Plastic Recycling
International
Parley "Over the last ten years, Parley has built a global interception network for marine plastic waste. Working in countries ranging from Sri Lanka and the Maldives to Mexico and the Dominican Republic, our teams and volunteers collect huge amounts of waste plastic every month – from beaches and coastlines, from rivers, from fishermen and from community interception points where the public can get involved and learn about the problem firsthand.
With some of the collected plastic, we are able to give it new life – to transform what was previously worthless trash into Symbols of Change. We call it Parley Ocean Plastic®. Working with major brands, fashion designers and material suppliers, we have created a global demand which allows us to take plastic out of vulnerable areas where it might otherwise end up in the oceans.
When we started, people thought we were crazy – but today, we have a global supply chain linking some of the communities most at risk from plastic pollution with consumers who want to help. Now, it’s time to take the next step. To close the loop. To eliminate the transport of these materials and feed them directly back into local communities to benefit local people. We are proud to introduce the latest upgrade for our global Parley AIR Stations: an end-to-end, circular solution for plastic waste on islands and in remote areas: The Parley Blueprint Module."
