Blue economy: Maritime and sustainable

Global change and climate change are two sides of the same coin: their impacts on the planet take the largest toll on the most vulnerable groups. Not only do different communities or regions have unequal access to basic levels of well-being, but they may each have different abilities to take action against these negative impacts.

This contradicts the vision of the ocean as a common good. The ocean provides an essential ecosystem service to the entire planet, but is also humanity’s greatest shared wealth, the guiding force of what we now call the blue economy. The blue economy describes both the use of natural resources and activities that use the ocean for transport and commercial purposes, but it is, above all, a new way of thinking and interacting with nature.

Enduring activities include sustainable fishing and responsible aquaculture, renewable energy sources, potable water, plant and animal marine resources, as well as marine biotechnology and other genetic resources. They also include activities centred on coastal and marine environments, from ecotourism to local trade.

To this common heritage we can add the cultural, esthetic and physical and emotional health benefits provided by a sustainable natural environment. All of this represents an incomparable opportunity to make countless sustainable resources accessible to all people, communities and nations.

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Tom Ford and 52HZ Launch a $1.2 Million Prize for Biodegradable Poly Bag Replacement AOC Sustainability

Everywhere we look, humans exist in a metaphorical sea of plastic. While that plastic comes in many forms, designer Tom Ford’s focus is “thin-film” and the estimated 300 billion polybags and single-use, resealable sandwich and storage bags (SRPBs) used every year.

If you believe that your plastic bags are recylced - because you dump them in the recycle bin — reality is that they probably are not recycled. All of those plastic bags end up in landfills or on the ground and in our oceans. Reality is sobering — so sobering that Tom Ford has launched the Plastic Innovation Prize in partnership with 52HZ.

The Deadly Statistics Around Plastic in our Oceans

Plastic films make up 5 million metric tons of ocean leakage, or a full 46% of all ocean plastic leakage.

It is estimated that there are 14 million metric tons of plastic on the ocean floor today that will be nearly impossible to extract.
11 million metric tons of new plastic enters the ocean every year. That number is expected to almost triple to 29 million metric tons by 2040 — the equivalent of 241 Washington Monuments.,
Plastic in the ocean will only continue to endanger countless species and ecosystems already affected by increased warming, acidification, and other stressors.

Read more about Tom Ford’s challenge to innovators who can solve the biodegradable thin film plastic problem. Read on in Sustainability.