According to a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, at least 8 million tons of plastic waste ends up in the world’s oceans every year, meaning that one truck-worth of plastic is dumped into the sea per minute. Sea turtles are found with straws up their nose, seabirds are entangled in fishnets, and short-tailed albatross’ stomachs are filled with disposable lighters and discarded bottle caps. This is incredibly disturbing and heartbreaking, and it’s happening right now. It has been estimated that about 260 marine species are known to become entangled in plastic or eat it. It is killing them, and if the problem with plastic pollution doesn’t improve soon, by 2050, there could be more plastic in the sea than fish.
200 people keep their promise to the ocean
On a hot day on September 30, 2017, O’right CEO Steven Ko and over 200 volunteers consisting of suppliers, salon partners, staff members and family headed towards the coastal shores of Taoyuan’s Yongan Fishing Harbor to remove trash. Under the blazing sun, everyone bent down and picked up anything that doesn’t belong on the beach to give marine wildlife a clean home. That day we picked up 291kg of waste off the shores, including non-recyclable waste such as Styrofoam, plastic bags, plastic debris, buoys, and tires (80%); recyclable goods such as plastic bottles, bottle caps, glass bottles (19%); hazardous waste such as lighters and small pieces of glass (0.6%). If we don’t do something and change our ways and plastic-using habits, we are leaving future generations a plastic-filled garbage dump that was once our beautiful ocean.
Reuse and choose natural materials to reduce plastic waste
We live in a plastic world. Every day we are surrounded by plastic. Plastic supports our culture of convenience, but does so much damage to our planet. It is not biodegradable and therefore pollutes the environment and eventually ends up in the sea. This is why most of the waste we found on the beach is plastic. So, the questions is, what can we do? We can replace plastic goods with eco-friendly materials. For example, bring your own reusable chopsticks or cups instead of using disposable plastic cutlery, or take your own shopping bag to reduce the use of plastic bags.
This sudden increase of ocean pollution is not only unattractive, but also destructive to the marine life and aquatic environment.
Make treasure out of trash
If properly sorted and recycled, plastic and glass bottles can be reused as a resource for manufacturing new products, giving value to waste. The eco-friendly pallets we use are made of 7,000 recycled plastic bottle caps. We also developed a 100% renewable plastic shampoo bottle produced with recycled plastic household goods, which help reduce approximately 75% of carbon emissions compared to new materials. As such, no more new plastic materials will be produced during the production of O’right shampoo, conditioner and body wash products.
Every year, O’right takes action to protect our beautiful planet by inviting green suppliers, salons, staff members and family to unite for Earth Hour, Tree Planting and Coastal Cleanup events. This year, we removed 291kg of marine trash from the coastal shores, which helped reduce 599kg of carbon and is equivalent to planting 54 20-year-old trees. Everyone has the power to protect the environment. Even a small change can make a tremendous difference. Like picking up debris off the beach; we can help give marine wildlife a clean home and give younger generations a sustainable future. We sincerely welcome you to join us on our green journey to make the world a better and brighter place.
