4Ocean, a Boca Raton, Florida-based bracelet and accessories company has achieved a milestone in its commitment to pull one pound of trash from the ocean from every purchase. In January, the company, known for its bracelets made of recycled materials that raise awareness about endangered marine life, reached 20 million pounds of trash pulled from the ocean, rivers and coastlines.
Every pound pulled helps fund the company’s global ocean cleanup operation, supports a growing movement to end the world’s reliance on single-use plastic, and advances its mission to end the ocean plastic crisis, according to the company website.
The Certified B Corp was founded in 2017 by Alex Schulze and Andrew Cooper, who were inspired to create 4Ocean after taking a surf trip to Bali, Indonesia, in 2015. While both founders grew up in Florida and made their living from the ocean, Bali is where they truly began to understand the severity of the ocean plastic crisis and its impact not just on marine life, but on the coastal communities that, like them, relied on the health of the ocean to survive.
Since pulling its first pound of trash in January 2017 from the ocean in Boca Raton, 4Ocean has expanded its efforts, and now has cleanup operations around the globe, including Florida, Hawaii, Indonesia, Guatemala and Haiti. It opened its first international headquarters on the island of Bali in 2018 and began hiring local community members to clean the ocean and coastlines.
The company has over 25 vessels and two river boom systems that aid in the trash cleanup. Crews around the world are working seven days a week, removing trash. The company employs over 250 full-time staff and over 350 bracelet artisans.
“Truly powerful movements make their impact in the small acts of everyday kindness and care made by ordinary people. And the clean ocean movement isn’t any different,” the company said in an announcing the 20-million-pound milestone. “We got here together – one conversation, one person, one change and one pound at a time. Thanks for joining us on this journey. We couldn’t do it without you.”
