Dear friends,

This week delegates attending the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi (UNEA 5.2) have agreed to a mandate that begins negotiations on a global, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.  🎉

While this is just the beginning of what will no doubt be a multi-year process, this mandate is necessary to create a comprehensive agreement that will include upstream plastic production as well as downstream waste issues. 

You know Lonely Whale for action leading to measurable, transparent impact. That’s why in the face of this mandate we aren’t waiting for negotiations to begin - instead, we are continuing our work to ensure plastic waste does not make its way into the ocean.

Yes, that includes fishing gear!  

Several of the NextWave Plastics member companies are supporting the collection and recycling of fishing gear at risk of being discarded at sea - including Trek Bicycles, Humanscale, and Interface. These companies use fishing gear and other plastics once bound for the ocean in premium products, creating value for what was considered waste and permanently removing plastic from the waste stream and the ocean.

Thanks to the commitment of NextWave member companies, NextWave Plastics has earned global recognition for its collaborative effort to shift the status quo, recently winning a Silver distinction in The Webby’s inaugural Anthem Awards competition. 

We’re also focused on scaling a solution for the 46% of plastic waste that enters the ocean every single year: thin-film plastic.

We launched the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Prize to identify and scale solutions that address the 180 billion thin-film plastic polybags used by the fashion industry every year - the vast majority of which go to landfill or are discarded improperly ending up on land and in the ocean.

Join us as we announce and celebrate the Finalists of the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Prize who are working to scale a solution for the 46% of plastic waste that leaks into the ocean every year. 🎉

Lastly, I’ll leave you with this quote from the recently released report, The Invisible Wave: Getting to zero chemical pollution in the ocean -

“The way into consumers’ hearts is to allow them to see a path to success that they can be a part of.”

I believed that in 2017 when we launched our global #StopSucking “campaign heard around the world” and I still believe it today. I’d love to hear what you are inspired by - drop a note here!

Warmly,
Dr. Dune Ives
CEO, Lonely Whale

Inspired by our work? Support our programs and help us #UnwrapTheFuture.