In honour of World Oceans Day, we’ve rounded up 13 of our favourite designs for cleaner oceans – including products from Adidas, Levi’s, Interface and Studio Swine.
1 Sunglasses by Bureo
The California skateboard brand makes sustainable products from marine debris gathered from Chilean coastlines. It recently introduced these sunglasses, which complement a collection of recycled boards and wheels. The shades are the first in the world made from 100 per cent recycled fishing nets, and were successfully funded on Kickstarter last year.
2 Parley by Adidas
After making waves last year with a concept for sneakers and 3D-printed soles made from recycled fishing net, Adidas has teamed with Parley for the Oceans to launch a limited edition run of the kicks – in a seafoam shade, naturally – in honour of World Oceans Day. The upper for each shoe contains about 13 grams of recycled gill nets, as well as 16.5 plastic bottles.
3 Gyrecraft sculptures by Studio Swine
This collection of stunning sculptural objects was created using plastic and other debris that studio founders Azusa Murakami and Alex Groves collected from the world’s oceans. The pieces were made onboard a boat using Studio Swine’s Solar Extruder, a sun-powered device that melts down plastic to reshape it in much the same manner as a 3D printer.
4 Ocean Cleanup by Boyan Slat
A 19-year-old Dutch inventor made worldwide headlines in 2013, with his concept for clearing the ocean of plastic waste. Slat’s plan employs a current-powered sieve that traps plastic debris. Over the last few years, the project has received over $2-million in crowdfunding, with plans to test a prototype version this year. In May, Ocean Cleanup was announced as the winner of the 2016 Katerna Award, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of sustainability.
5 Greenscreen Sea-Tex fabric by Hunter Douglas
Developed as an eco-friendly solar control solution for roller blind systems, Sea-Tex is made using Bionic FLX, the same yarn in the G-Star Raw for the Oceans line, which is made from recycled shoreline plastic. The high-performance fabric is also recyclable.
6 Edible six-pack rings by Saltwater Brewery
Using byproducts from their brewing process, the Florida beer brand developed a bio-based alternative to a ubiquitous packaging that is notoriously dangerous to animals, particularly marine life. The world’s first 100 per cent biodegradable, compostable and edible six-pack rings are made from wheat and barley.
7 Sea Sponge bikini by Eray Carbajo
University of California engineering professor Mihri Ozkan and her husband Cengiz Ozkan created a unique material that filters impurities from water by absorbing oil-based contaminants. They used nanocarbons derived from sugar to compose the lightweight, mesh-like structure, which was fashioned into a swim suit by architecture firm Eray Carbajo to win Reshape15, a wearable technology competition.
8 Net Effect by Interface
In 2012, the U.S. carpet manufacturer launched its Net Works initiative, which provides a source of income for small fishing villages in the Philippines, by deploying a workforce to gather discarded nets. The following year Interface introduced Net Effect, its carpet tile collection that incorporates the repurposed nylon. In late 2015 expansion into a third region in the Philippines and four communities in Cameroon was announced and a third country is set to be added this year.
9 Sea Me rug by Nienke Hoogvliet
The Dutch designer offers a more artistic take on fishing nets repurposed as floor coverings with this rug, made using yarns woven from kelp harvested from South Africa. The cellulose derived from the seaweed offers properties similar to viscose, but can be processed using more eco-friendly methods.
10 522 jeans by Levi’s
Levi’s has partnered with Aquafil and its Econyl brand of nylon made from recycled fishing nets. In March, the iconic denim brand announced that its 522 model for men would now be made with 61 per cent cotton, 38 per cent Econyl and and one per cent elastane.
11 Seabin by Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski
Two Australian surfers successfully crowdfunded their concept for an underwater trash can earlier this year. Intended for marinas and dockside installations, the low-cost, low-maintenance bin pumps water through a removable filter that traps garbage before it makes its way out to sea.
12 Ocean Huts by Spark Architects
Imagined for the Singapore coastline, these brightly hued beach huts would be constructed from high-density polyethylene – a material made from plastics recovered from the ocean and recycled into cladding. The plastics would be colour-sorted, shredded and reformed into 3D tiles, to construct a scale-like skin. With a thin photovoltaic film added to the shingles, the naturally ventilated, elevated structures could generate enough power for interior lighting and a fan.
13 Sculptures by Ocean Sole
This Nairobi-based organization collects flip fops, which are commonly discarded on the country’s beaches, and recycles them to form colourful animal sculptures.
