Sea Shepherd’s Awesome New Plan to Turn Ocean Plastic Into Sustainable Fashion

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is best known for its stellar work protecting whales from Japanese hunting boats and documenting the atrocities that happen each year in Taiji’s infamous cove, where wild dolphins are rounded up and either captured for the lucrative captivity industry or slaughtered for their meat.

While Sea Shepherd will continue this much needed marine animal protection work until it is needed no more (what a glorious day that will be for the animals!), the nonprofit organization is venturing into other waters with the launch of The Vortex Project, in collaboration with Parley – for the Oceans and Pharrel Williams’ eco-textile company Bionic Yarn.

For the project, Sea Shepherd USA chapters will be visiting some of the most polluted areas of the ocean and shoreline to clean this precious ecosystem of plastic and debris which will then be handed over to Bionic Yarn and denim brand G-Star RAW to turn into sustainable fabric and fashion.

What’s more, the project will seek to “close the loop by again recycling these products at the end of their product life and manufacturing new products in such a way as to not further pollute,” as reported by a Sea Shepherd press release. Pretty cool, huh?

“Plastic is choking our oceans and precious marine wildlife at an unprecedented rate. Straws, single-use bags, six-pack rings, drink lids and more are ensnaring marine animals or blocking their digestive systems, killing these magnificent creatures. It’s time humanity takes responsibility for our actions and cleans up the mess we’ve made. We hope this is the first of many meaningful collaborations to come,” said Sea Shepherd founder, Captain Paul Watson.

The team’s upcoming collaboration will be featured through G-Star’s “Raw for the Oceans” collection, which will kick off with a line of eco-Jeans made from turning reclaimed plastic ocean waste into Bionic Yarn denim fabric. The collection will hit G-Star RAW stores in August 2014 with online sales beginning August 15.

The collection is just the first of many to happen through The Vortex Project. Hopefully Sea Shepherd’s campaign will be a wake-up call not just for us as consumers, but also for the fashion industry as a whole, which can easily be a part of the solution rather than the problem if only more are willing to take the plunge.