Our Collectors in CoVid-19, our first State of the Oceans Panel event our new black Obsidian Black Ocean Bottle | Ocean Bottle Store

Our Collectors in CoVid-19

Plus, our first State of the Oceans Panel event and our new black Obsidian Black Ocean Bottle

It’s getting really boring staying at home now, isn’t it? I don’t feel like I am the only person who has this thought. When I compare my lockdown woes to those of others, however, I am often brought back to earth by a leveling sense of perspective. I don’t feel like I am the only person who has experienced this either. One striking example of this is the Ocean plastic collectors; the amazing work that they do, their incredibly difficult CoVid-19 experience, and the support we have received thus far in helping them through it.


Millions of plastic collectors & waste workers have lost their livelihoods due to Covid-19. They rely on collecting plastic as a primary source of income and are unable to work due to the virus.

 

 

These are the incredible people who do the critical work to collect, sort & recycle much of the world’s waste but don’t have the protection from governments or municipal authorities that many of us do. The harsh reality is that they and their families can fall below the poverty line during the virus. For some, isolation might mean playing scrabble more often than they are used to, for others, it can spell a threat to their life.

 

 

These amazing collectors have done so much to help us on our mission so far (655, 990kg's of plastic collected) and it’s our duty to protect them during these testing times. This is why we need your help in raising awareness and funds for the Plastic Bank Community Relief Fund. On Friday last week, we hosted an online webinar event to launch our limited edition Obsidian Black Ocean Bottle. 25% of proceeds from each Black Bottle will go to the Relief Fund for plastic collectors, plus the usual guaranteed impact of 1000 plastic bottles!  

 


We invited a fascinating mix of people to speak at our event, so that we could aim to achieve as balanced a perspective as possible on: CoVid-19 and it’s effect on our oceans. The best bits are available to below:

 

 

Some great extra reading material about how to build a new social, plastic economy can be found here: 

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/plastic-pollution-waste-pandemic-covid19-coronavirus-recycling-sustainability/

https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/why-inclusive-circular-economy-needed-prepare-future-global-crises?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=pacecircular&utm_campaign=socialmedia&utm_term=4d219150-9449-4287-90de-c78f3cb13ab8

https://www.globaldashboard.org/2020/04/30/buildabridgetobetter-recommendations-to-drive-pandemic-responses/

Other waste worker support relief organisations can be found here: 

https://www.wiego.org/support-informal-workers-campaigns

Message in a bottle brought to you by Alex.

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