OPPORTUNITY
We are bringing the best and brightest leaders to the table to take on the challenge of removing plastics from our oceans while creating sustainable businesses in the process. This includes leaders from the military, federal government, entrepreneurial thinkers, businesses leaders, scientists, researchers, artists, celebrities, fishermen, veterans, and students. Our hope is to create a collective community focused on reducing plastic use while finding innovation and collaboration around giving value to plastic waste that will in turn encourage the “mining” of plastics on and offshore.
THE CHALLENGE
Removing plastics from the ocean is complex and arduous but are not reasons to neglect the issue and here’s why. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, outside of the small amount of plastics incinerated, every bit of plastic ever manufactured still exists today and is compounding by increasing global production. Every piece of plastic you have ever used is most likely still here somewhere. Up to 80% of marine debris is plastic and comes from runoff, creating a steady stream of plastic into the ocean. In the marine environment, plastics do not biodegrade, they photo-degrade, breaking up from recognizable items of all sizes and shapes into tiny particulates. The challenge is to innovate novel ways to “mine” for plastics, both large and small, remembering that the smaller pieces of plastic are the most challenging ones to capture. Do you eat fish?The broken down pieces are most easily ingested by marine life. If these plastic particles are being consumed by our food source, they too make their way up the food chain into our systems.
OUR MISSION
The mission of Plastic Ocean Project, Inc. 501(c)3 is to educate through field research, implement progressive outreach initiatives, and incubate solutions to address the global plastic pollution problem, working with and for the next generation to create a more sustainable future.
Our long term goals are to actively and collectively incubate 5 solutions toward the prevention and removal of marine plastics on and off-shore. We are bringing together a community of world leaders focused on innovation, collaboration, education and outreach. We are spearheading and mobilizing focused research and innovative projects to meet the challenge of removing man-made debris from our oceans in support of our next generation while creating new sustainable businesses.
We believe assembling a collaborative team representative of all stakeholders is the key to the success of our mission. The collaborative team will focus on solution incubation for marine debris prevention and removal. The five targeted groups we include in the collaboration model include: Academics, Corporate America, Government, NGOs & Non-profits, and Individuals/Entrepreneurs.
Our long term goals are to actively and collectively incubate 5 solutions toward the prevention and removal of marine plastics on and off-shore. We are bringing together a community of world leaders focused on innovation, collaboration, education and outreach. We are spearheading and mobilizing focused research and innovative projects to meet the challenge of removing man-made debris from our oceans in support of our next generation while creating new sustainable businesses.
We believe assembling a collaborative team representative of all stakeholders is the key to the success of our mission. The collaborative team will focus on solution incubation for marine debris prevention and removal. The five targeted groups we include in the collaboration model include: Academics, Corporate America, Government, NGOs & Non-profits, and Individuals/Entrepreneurs.