Ocean pollution is one of those causes that people have a lot of trouble remembering. Although there are beach clean-up crews in most developed coastal areas, for the great majority of the world’s population who don’t live near a beach, the issues of trash in the ocean tend to be “out of sight, out of mind.”

Sure, no one likes the idea of masses of plastic floating around in the middle of the Pacific and other areas, but given how many urgent issues we have to deal with on a daily basis in our local communities, sometimes ocean pollution simply gets pushed to the back burner and given a lower priority.

Exygy is proud to be a B Corp, and as such, we love to single out other B Corps who are using their business models to do good in the world. Luckily, there’s one B Corp out there, Method, doing their best to tackle the problems of ocean pollution head-on, while using the recovered plastic to create to create beautiful and interesting products that consumers can use around their homes.

Sometimes ocean pollution simply gets pushed to the back burner and given a lower priority.

From One Kind of Cleaning to Another

Method got started in 2000 as an environmentally-conscious cleaning products company. In 2006, founders Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan created their first bottle made from 100% recycled plastic.

Over the next few years, they refined their methods, and in 2011 they teamed up with a company called Envision Plastics, one of the largest recyclers in the United States, to start using recovered ocean plastic in their bottle-making process. The idea would be to start cleaning up the ocean, while still helping people clean up their homes.

It was a smart move on several fronts. The resulting plastic material, called Ocean PCR, is the same quality as virgin HDPE plastic, so it’s durable and reliable. It also looks great – the combination of recovered ocean plastic and post-consumer recycled plastic creates a uniquely grey gunmetal appearance. Method currently packages their 2-in-1 dish and hand soap in these Ocean PCR bottles, and they’ve proven very popular and gotten a lot of positive press.

The resulting plastic material, called Ocean PCR, is the same quality as virgin HDPE plastic, so it’s durable and reliable

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

You’ve probably heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – it’s a huge island of trash, twice the size of Texas, that floats around in the Pacific ocean. Some call it the world’s largest landfill, and sadly, that’s probably true. This waste not only affects ocean life, but it washes up on island and mainland shores and can harm and kill land wildlife, as well.

A lot of the trash that floats around in the Garbage Patch is plastic, but not all plastics can be recycled effectively. Method’s challenge was to find places where there were greater concentrations of recyclable plastics washing up on shore, and then to team up with beach clean-up crews to recover some of this plastic.

As it turned out, there were beaches in Hawaii that fit the bill, and so Method partnered with the Kokua Hawaii Foundation and Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii to gather this plastic up and put it to good use.

The bottle launched in 2011, and was given a boost through distribution at Whole Foods

Once Method had the plastic materials they needed, their teamwork with Envision helped make the Ocean PCR bottle a reality. The bottle launched in 2011, and was given a boost through distribution at Whole Foods locations across the country. The success of the initial launch has allowed the company to expand, and now Method products are available at select retailers and also through their online store.

Acknowledging Ocean Pollution

Method’s very existence has given new life to the awareness of ocean pollution. According to Adam Lowry, the company’s goal has never been to tackle the full Great Pacific Garbage Patch – that’s a much more ambitious task that will take a lot greater resources. But the first step is to get people interested in the topic, and to show them that just because the trash is “out there somewhere,” where no one sees it right away, doesn’t mean it’s not a real threat or that it won’t come back to haunt us.

With events like the California Coastal Cleanup Day, it’s clear that people can and do care about keeping the ocean and the earth clean, and those who live in coastal areas are seeing the effects both of ocean pollution, and of the improvements that can be made when people come together to fight it.

Companies like Method have a direct effect on the amount of plastic that gets recovered and recycled

Companies like Method not only help boost awareness, but also have a direct effect on the amount of plastic that gets recovered and recycled. This kind of pioneering work opens the path for other companies to come in and do the same thing, and the more that do, the less plastic there will be polluting our oceans and beaches.