4Ocean
{{Short description|American apparel company focused on ocean cleanup}}
{{Infobox company
| name = 4Ocean
| native_name =
| logo = 4ocean logo.png
| logo_size = 300px
| type = Private
| founders = {{ubl|Alex Schulze|Andrew Cooper}}
| key_people =
| industry = {{unbulleted list||Clothing|Environmentalism}}
| products = Bracelets, water bottles, clothing
| num_employees = {{unbulleted list|{{increase}} 250 (2021){{cite web|url=https://www.4ocean.com/pages/cleanup-operations|title=4ocean Operations|date=2020|website=4Ocean|access-date=22 October 2021}}}}
| parent =
| homepage = {{url|https://www.4ocean.com}}
| caption =
| image =
| foundation = {{start date and age|2017|1}}
| hq_location = Boca Raton, Florida, United States
| location_city =
| location_country =
| capital =
| revenue =
}}
4Ocean is a for-profit company founded in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2017.{{cite news |last1=Weir |first1=Bill |title=This startup wants to end the ocean plastic crisis |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/26/world/video/4ocean-trash-guatemala-c2e-spc |work=Call To Earth |publisher=CNN}} 4Ocean retails bracelets made from recycled materials, as well as apparel and other merchandise for which the materials are environmentally- and socially responsibly sourced.
Although 4Ocean is a for-profit company, they are also a certified B Corporation,{{cite web |title=Find a B Corp |url=https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp |website=B Lab |publisher=Corporate Directory}} a private certification of social and environmental performance for for-profit companies.
The company uses a portion of the profits generated by bracelet sales to remove one pound of trash from the ocean and coastlines as part of efforts to eliminate plastic pollution in oceans. 4Ocean has cleanup operations based in Florida, Haiti, Guatemala and Bali,{{cite web |author= |url=https://www.4ocean.com/pages/cleanup-operations |title=Locations and Facilities |website=4ocean.com |publisher=4Ocean |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211109223900/https://www.4ocean.com/pages/cleanup-operations |archive-date=9 November 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://4ocean.com/our-impact|title=4ocean/Our impact|website=4ocean|access-date=19 June 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkart/2020/01/29/4ocean-has-removed-more-than-7-million-pounds-of-trash-expands-bracelet-funded-cleanups-to-central-america/#578f266a5f0a|title=4ocean Has Removed More Than 7 Million Pounds Of Trash, Expands Bracelet-Funded Cleanups To Central America|website=Forbes|date=29 January 2020|access-date=19 June 2020}} and has organised volunteer cleanup events in a number of countries. The company has a "One Pound Promise", which promises that, at a minimum, one pound of ocean waste is removed per item sold.{{Cite web|title=About Us|url=https://www.4ocean.com/pages/about|access-date=2021-07-14|website=4ocean|language=en}}
History
File:4ocean_new_office.jpg Research Park.]]
4Ocean was founded by Alex Schulze and Andrew Cooper,{{cite web |title=These millennials started a business to rid the world's |url=https://www.today.com/video/these-millennials-started-a-business-to-rid-the-world-s-oceans-of-plastic-1267953219653?v=raila |website=Today (NBC) |publisher=Today (NBC) |access-date=25 August 2018}} who, on a trip to Bali, Indonesia,{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/07/4oceans-cleaned-up-1-million-pounds-of-ocean-garbage.html|title=4Ocean's surfer founders cleaned up 1 million pounds of ocean garbage|last=Huddleston|first=Tom Jr.|date=2018-09-07|website=CNBC|access-date=2019-03-07}} noticed the beaches were filled with plastic waste; Schulze and Cooper witnessed fishermen pushing their boats through mounds of plastic in order to get to more open waters.{{cite web |title=Entrepreneurs pay fishermen to collect plastic |url=http://www.fox13news.com/news/florida-news/florida-entrepreneurs-pay-fishermen-to-collect-plastic |website=Fox 13 |date=6 August 2018 |publisher=Fox 13 |access-date=25 August 2018}} Upon learning that plastic waste accumulated on the province's coastlines due to the currents of the ocean, they began to explore ideas of widespread cleanup operations.
Schulze and Cooper created a business model that allowed for volunteers to have access to the supplies and resources necessary for the retraction and disposal of waste found in the water and along coastlines.
As of 2025, 4Ocean claims to have removed over 41 million pounds of waste from various oceans and coastlines since its inception.{{cite web|url=https://www.4ocean.com/pages/impact|title=4Ocean - impact|website=4Ocean|access-date=16 February 2025}} As of January 2019, over 200 people were employed by the company.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wlrn.org/post/south-florida-company-wants-clean-seas-and-prove-it-can-make-money-doing-it|title=This South Florida Company Wants To Clean The Seas - And Prove It Can Make Money Doing It|last=Bakkalapulo|first=Maria|website=WLRN-TV|date=3 January 2019 |publisher=PBS|language=en|access-date=2019-03-07}} A transparency disclosure released through the B Corporation indicated that in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company laid off 136 of its 179 employees.{{Cite web|title=Transparent Disclosure 2020|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/blab-impact-published-production/MZBPlyiedRH61SGliEK7EaeUDJKgdNho|website=B Corporation Transparency Documents}}
Business model
File:The 4ocean Beaded Bracelet.png
4Ocean is a commercial for-profit business that is funded by the sales of its online products. These funds are distributed to fund cleanup operations and provide deep-sea cleaning equipment. For every $20 of turnover, 4Ocean claims its employees recover one pound of plastic waste from oceans and coastlines.{{Cite web|url=https://legacy.4ocean.com/blogs/blog/guinness-world-record|title=New Guinness World Record - 4ocean Helps Set the Mark for Largest Underwater Cleanup!|website=4ocean|language=en|access-date=2019-06-28}}
Partnerships with industry have led to some companies becoming plastic neutral through offsets provided through 4Ocean.{{cite news |title=Endangered Species Chocolate claims industry first with ocean plastic neutral status |url=https://www.confectioneryproduction.com/news/49208/endangered-species-chocolate-claims-industry-first-with-ocean-plastic-neutral-status |agency=Confectionery Production |publisher=Bell Publishing Ltd.}} Another source of revenue for the organization is the sales of the recycled plastic into products by companies that partner with the organization.{{cite news |last1=Hegel |first1=Theresa |title=BYBBA Partners With 4Ocean To Combat Plastic Pollution |url=https://members.asicentral.com/news/strategy/september-2024/bybba-partners-with-4ocean-to-combat-plastic-pollution |publisher=ASI Central}}
In November 2019, Business Insider reported that the advertising archive of Facebook showed 4Ocean had purchased 4,290 adverts, spending $3,654,791, making them the 14th-largest purchaser of political, electoral or issue-focused adverts on the platform.{{cite web |last=Holmes |first=Aaron |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-other-advertisers-spending-most-on-facebook-political-ads-2019-11?r=US&IR=T |title=From Trump to Planned Parenthood, these are the Facebook pages spending the most money on political ads |website=businessinsider.com |publisher=Business Insider |date=14 November 2019 |access-date=9 November 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211109225011/https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-other-advertisers-spending-most-on-facebook-political-ads-2019-11?r=US&IR=T |archive-date=9 November 2021}}
Awards
- 4Ocean won the Surfer magazine "Agent of Change Award".{{cite web|url=https://www.surfer.com/blogs/agents-of-change/|title=Agents of Change Archives|website=SURFER Magazine|access-date=21 February 2019}}
- The founders of 4Ocean were named in the Forbes magazine "30 Under 30 — Social Entrepreneurs 2019" List.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/4ocean/|title=4Ocean|website=Forbes|access-date=21 February 2019}}
- The founders of 4ocean were named to the "201 Creative Class" by Newsweek.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/sponsored/creative-class-2019|title=The Creative Class 2019|website=Newsweek|access-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425203619/https://www.newsweek.com/sponsored/creative-class-2019|archive-date=25 April 2019|url-status=dead}}
See also
References
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