Why Do We Use Ocean Bound Plastic to Make Buoy Bottles?
Oceanbound plastic is defined as plastic collected within 50 miles of an ocean AND in an area where there is poor to no waste collection infrastructure. So HDPE collected on the Jersey Shore, Miami Beach, Galveston, Seattle or Santa Monica would not be considered Oceanbound because there is good waste collection in those places and it is highly likely that the plastic is either put into a recycling stream and reused somehow or put into the waste stream. In neither case would this plastic have much of a chance to enter the ocean.
When Buoy purchases Oceanbound plastic, and subsequently when you purchase a Buoy bottle, we are together underwriting the building and maintenance of waste collection infrastructure in places that DO NOT have good waste systems. It’s romantic but not accurate to think that the plastic we use is collected from the edge of a cliff as it is in the process of being blown into the surf or from a river delta flowing to the ocean. These would make cute instagram posts, but the good work being underwritten by our purchase of Oceanbound plastic and your purchase of a Buoy bottle is to collect and sequester the waste before it has a chance to enter a stream or a river and choke it with plastic. Some of our plastic would come from stream/river/shore collection but like most things worth doing, the real work here is boring. It involves building waste infrastructure that looks a lot like the infrastructure in your hometown.
The Oceanbound plastic we buy has come from South Mexico and Haiti in the past. Most recent collections have been in the Dominican Republic. These areas need more sophisticated waste management. They need employment offered by the construction and operation of this infrastructure. Once the system is up and running, it organizes waste disposal in a wide swath of land bordering the ocean. These are all good things. Democratizing better waste management throughout the world is a minimal first step in controlling our global waste problem.
Next time you need or gift a water bottle, buy a Buoy bottle and be a part of it.
