Imagine a plastic bottle turned into an ink cartridge, or a backpack; or a tangle of discarded fishing-gear transformed into office chairs, mountain bike grips, or carpet. Imagine an ocean bursting with life instead of plastic.

In 2017 former UNEP Executive Director Erik Solheim warned that people and the planet we share face an “ocean armageddon”  if immediate action is not taken to stem the flow of plastic into the sea. Yet today, we know that current commitments to curb plastic waste would only reduce annual plastic pollution by 7%. Even in the face of this immense threat, there are stories of ocean optimism and tales of people pushing for systemic solutions.

“One of the phrases that we say often is there will be no environmental justice without social justice. Really understanding how those two go so well hand-in-hand, I think, is key.”

Kelsey Halling, First Mile
Episode 6 - Recycling as a Human Issue

Season one of 52 Hertz, our new podcast, centers the people behind innovations that scale solutions to marine plastic pollution by changing the system responsible for that plastic waste. NextWave Plastics member companies like Trek Bicycles, Herman Miller, HP, Inc. and Humanscale are pioneering a more sustainable future. Through this first of its kind consortium, NextWave Plastics members put competition aside to join their competitors and other leading brands across industries to collaborate for clean seas. Right now, NextWave Plastics is on track to keep 25,000 metric tons of plastic waste from entering the ocean by 2025, but we know we have to do more -- and quickly.

This fall, a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ, Breaking the Plastic Wave, projected that the amount of plastic entering the ocean each year will triple by 2040, less than 20 years from now. It’s hard to picture the scale of this global crisis in numbers. To put this into context: that is enough plastic to cover every meter of coastline in the world with 110 pounds of plastic waste. Even in the face of climbing numbers and catastrophic environmental impact, there is still time left to act but we must act together. As Breaking the Plastic Wave clearly outlined, no one solution can achieve a future without plastic waste. The only way we can create a future with clean seas is if we work together to take immediate, transparent, and scalable actions -- echoing our founding mission at NextWave. 

This three-episode collection from 52 Hertz highlights the innovation and radical collaboration of corporate leaders turning off the tap on plastic pollution — for a less wasteful and more circular world. Each of the stories challenges us to examine our relationship to the products we buy and to deepen our understanding of the solutions that can create impact today for the future of the ocean.

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