Zachary Zeman
Matthew Congiusta
Patricia, Diane Daniel
Oluwatomi Salako
St. John's University
Charles Wankel
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The solution is to clean up as much ocean land as possible by using supplies such as work gloves, water coolers with enough water to keep workers properly hydrated, especially in warm temperatures, first-aid kits for minor cuts and scrapes. Depending on the weather, sunscreen and bug spray may be needed.
In rich countries, cutting off the flow of plastic into the sea will require policy changes to encourage better waste management, a circular plastics industry, banning single-use plastics, and incentivizing reusable options. In poorer places, it requires all that and more widespread waste management.
People living in lower-income countries generally produce far less plastic waste per capita. People often dump their garbage in the street where rain and wind wash it into rivers, which eventually carry it to the ocean. Estimates of how much of the plastic at sea first floated down a river vary widely. A study funded by Ocean Cleanup put the range at 0.8 to 2.7 million tons per year. A growing population means that the number of people without garbage services will nearly double by 2040, compounding the problem.
4Ocean prioritizes relationship building, research, and hard work towards projects. They harness the power of business to fund global cleanup operations that are responsible for recovering massive amounts of waste from the world’s coastlines, rivers, and oceans. 4Ocean does an outstanding job of maintaining a strong social media presence, which helps with their mission and employee engagement. Their mission often stresses the importance of camaraderie in the workplace. When the team shares a common goal it boosts productivity and inspires others to do more. Furthermore, it allows for more collaboration and efficiency.
In its early years, 4Ocean focused on campaigns for individual species, including seals and sea turtles. While there were a number of victories, they realized they couldn’t protect species without protecting their habitats and ensuring strong and effective policies and regulations. They thought bigger, increased their programs, and shifted to a broader ecosystem-based approach.
They fought for key habitats to be protected under the Marine Sanctuary Program, and their staff hosted their very first International Coastal Cleanup and became the Center for Marine Conservation, more aptly defining their mission.
Over the years, their mission grew and solidified to make them who they are now: a science-based conservation organization that stands on the absolute conviction that each individual can make a positive difference for our ocean.
They are now at the forefront of ocean conservation. They work across the world to ensure a healthy ocean and protect the wildlife and communities that depend on it. Because the ocean impacts each one of us, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat, the ocean is everyone's responsibility.
They remain dedicated to working together to find solutions to the biggest threats our ocean is facing. Whether it be working towards sustainable fisheries or ocean-based climate solutions, they take an adaptive, inclusive, and holistic approach to conservation. They are grateful for the passion and vision of all who have made their organization what it is today, including you.
Throughout their history, they've depended on the support of dedicated ocean advocates like you. Here’s to working together over the next 50 years to accomplish even more for our ocean.
Initially, 4Ocean began as a local beach clean-up crew. Its founders had their eyes set on an unforgettable surfing trip to the island of Bali. Upon their arrival to some of the best beaches in the world, they were met with tons of trash. What they thought would be an epic graduation surf trip evolved into a global clean up initiative.
4Ocean began with a plan to clean one beach at a time. Fast forward five years, the 4Ocean organization has removed over 26 million pounds of trash from the world’s waterways. The proof can be seen from almost anywhere. The countless social media posts and articles that continue to be published about 4Ocean tell us everything we need to know. 4Ocean is actively making a positive impact on the world to make it a better place for everyone.
Originally, their goal was to clean one million pounds of trash. In time, they have exceeded this goal exponentially. Year after year, their actual performance has exceeded their goals by a three-fold minimum. Not only that, their reach has expanded to twelve international clean-up sites to continue to uphold their mission. In addition, 4Ocean has 17 different clean-up vessels in its fleet and employs over 180 crew members internationally.
Most importantly, they have successfully optimized their business model. 4Ocean has continued their global clean up by generating revenue to fund their operations. 4Ocean takes the recyclable materials they find and repurposes them into for-sale products.
The goals 4Ocean has accomplished have been thoroughly integrated into their business operations. All personnel changed the way they take care of daily tasks on and off the job, for example, planning ahead to reduce waste at cleanup events. Providing a meal at cleanup can be tricky when trying to reduce waste, but using these tips to cut down on packaging, single-use plastics and food waste can help reduce the waste we are trying to avoid in our oceans. Providing healthy snacks, such as fruit, that don’t require packaging, serving easy to eat food, such as finger foods, sandwiches, and veggies or chips & dip can be eaten without cutlery reduce the amount of waste used. For regular events, it may be best to purchase cheap, but reusable, plates and silverware that can be washed in between events. When ordering from a restaurant for a meal, ordering from local, small businesses and restaurants is recommended, as well as donating any leftover food to a local soup kitchen.
Because of this business, many good things have happened, including developing plastic free habits that encourage people to look at the use of plastic in their life and find non-plastic alternatives. In addition to this, anyone can now become a 4Ocean ambassador. Anyone interested in getting involved or hosting an event in the community to clean up local beaches can use their voice and circle of influence for nature. They are looking for motivated ambassadors to help increase nature’s share. Ambassador gain access to more resources they can use to help.
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Kristen, Customer Advocate
