The ocean is full of plastic. Bottles, bags, boxes, and all other sorts of items made from synthetic resins find their way into the ocean in alarming numbers. Unfortunately, that plastic can linger around for hundreds of years, creating problems for marine life and ultimately humans as well. Plastic is so pernicious that you can find micro-sized particles in even the most remote areas on the planet. And all that is before considering the environmental consequences of extracting and using petroleum to make plastics. By one estimate, we have until 2050 to achieve no-new ocean plastic if we are to save the ocean.
Seaweed is also abundant in the ocean, but unlike plastic, instead of choking the ocean, seaweed nourishes the sea and the planet. Like their landlubber cousins, seaweed captures carbon dioxide while replenishing water with oxygen. Additionally, it also serves as a safe home for aquatic life and a source of food.
However, Julia Marsh, co-founder of Sway, found a new use for seaweed—using the ocean’s bounty to create alternatives to conventional plastics.
