As a brand whose name is inspired by nature’s elements—Ocean, Sun, Earth, Atmosphere—we have a distinct duty to protect the elements that we draw from. For us, every day is World Oceans Day. The ocean is our source and deepest inspiration. When our founder, Jenefer Palmer, discovered our nutrient-dense Undaria seaweed in the pristine waters of Patagonia, she was inspired to harness the ocean’s healing powers. Nearly three decades ago, she blended pure, potent seaweed, rich in minerals, antioxidants, and nutrients with active botanicals to formulate the heart of our clean, clinically proven brand.
What Is Ocean Positive?
We know that healthy oceans are crucial to the protection of our planet. That’s why, in 2022, to honor and protect our most precious resource, we took action to become the first Ocean Positive verified beauty brand, with our partner, SeaTrees. This means that each year we offset more carbon than we create. For every ton of carbon that we create, we pay it forward by investing in coastal restoration projects that sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
Our Oceans and the Global Carbon Cycle
The ocean contains 90% of carbon in the global carbon cycle. That’s a lot of carbon! What does this mean? Here’s a little refresher:
The carbon cycle is a process where carbon dioxide travels from the atmosphere into living organisms and the Earth, then back into the atmosphere. Humans play a major role in the activities of the carbon cycle through activities such as the burning of fossil fuels. As a result, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere is rapidly rising, resulting in climate change.
The Ocean Can Help Reverse Climate Change
The ocean’s superpower is to sequester (aka–suck) more carbon out of the atmosphere than any other ecosystem on Earth. How does it do this? Seaweed, sea grasses, mangrove trees, salt marshes and other coastal ecosystems are incredibly efficient at storing carbon. They absorb carbon at a much faster rate than forests and can contain it for millions of years!
But our ocean and its beloved ecosystems need our help to be more effective. Our partnership with SeaTrees helps to protect and regenerate blue-carbon coastal ecosystems.
Our Commitment to Sustainability
We are Climate Neutral Certified (and have been since 2020). To achieve this, we measured all of our brand’s cradle-to-customer emissions, and are implementing reduction actions on our journey to net zero. We also compensate for our emissions every year by investing in carbon credits and clean energy certificates. Additionally, we invest in two SeaTrees blue-carbon coastal ecosystem projects. Every project is assessed and measured against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
1. Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project in Cambodia
This project contains 2000+ hectares of pristine mangrove rainforest and helps to protect and enhance a further 50,000+ hectares of mangroves in the Gulf of Thailand. Blue-carbon mangrove ecosystems are most effective at sequestering carbon when they are directly connected to a healthy watershed, so protecting them is key.
Our contribution in this project helps to protect habitat for critically endangered species, like the Irrawaddy Dolphin and Malaysian Sun Bear. It will additionally help provide jobs, education and healthcare benefits for 16,000+ people in the local community who will support these endeavors.
2. Mangrove Trees, Mida Creek, Kenya
The Mida Creek project restores 100+ hectares of degraded mangrove forest within the Malindi Watamu National Marine Park and Reserve - a UNESCO Designated Biosphere Area and one of the world’s oldest Marine Protected Areas. Every mangrove tree planted:
- Helps to create meaningful employment for more than 200 people.
- Provides resources for local education.
- Protects local villages from storm surges and sea-level rise.
- Serves as critical nursery grounds for fish and shellfish, and increases local marine productivity.
- Has the potential to sequester approximately 300kg of carbon dioxide over the 25-year life of the tree.
