How did Parley for the Oceans start out?
I spent a third of my life creating brands and making companies and individuals famous, helping them make more money. Then, in 2012, I met Paul Watson, the founder of Sea Shepherd and co-founder of Greenpeace – and an environmentalist, an eco-warrior, a kind of altruist pirate who is getting things done. It’s thanks to Paul that I learned what is going on in the oceans and that every second breath we take comes from life in the magic blue. We’re destroying our life support system. The idea that the oceans could die is one I could not accept as my legacy and this motivated me to start Parley for the Oceans. The oceans give us life, we give the oceans plastic. We are killing them at a rapid speed.
How do you think the pandemic might affect conversations around sustainability in the design industries?
It’s not enough to aim for sustainability. The word has lost its meaning. We need to reinvent and create the future. That’s what eco-innovation is about. The creative industry to which I belong has to own the responsibility to make this change happen. Industry relies on us with our design, technologies and media reach. We are able to make change happen, pretty much overnight, because we speak directly to the heart of people. We can create trends. One way we’ve shown that is with Parley Ocean Plastic®. It’s not just another name for marine debris, it’s a new purpose for it that creates a catalyst for change.
By taking low-value waste and turning it into desirable, high-performance materials for the sports and fashion industry, we put marine plastic pollution – and the recycling/upcycling of it – in the global spotlight. Before, marine debris was totally unattractive: it’s complicated to retrieve, difficult to recycle and way more expensive than making new plastic from oil. Now, everyone wants to work with it.