Ocean. Now!

🎉 The time has finally come: we're launching our second campaign "Under Our Skin: microplastics in fashion" today at the sustainable fashion conference 202030 – THE BERLIN FASHION SUMMIT 🎉🎉 Over the last few days, you've been guessing which topic we'll address next. Well, it's synthetic microfibers – and polyester specifically. Polyester makes up a considerable proportion of the microplastics that end up in the ocean. It can cause inflammatory reactions in living organisms. The concentration of microfibers in the environment varies greatly. However, it is steadily increasing. 🌊 International political agreements and a change to our economic system (so that it puts the planet before profit) are what's needed. We want industry to take proactive political action to restore the health of the planet. We've taken your opinions on board and will address decision-makers in politics and business in two petitions. In the first petition, we call on adidas to rethink and act.💡 To achieve a reduction of microplastics in fashion, we're using the power of conceptual art. In a series of portraits, we‘ll address five central themes related to the production of polyester: Oil Extraction, Overconsumption, Microfibers, Fashion Colonialism, and Healing. 📸 We will realize the photo series in collaboration with Toni Meyer, Vibha Galhotra, Kobina Nyarko, and other conceptual artists in Spring 2025. Stay tuned to find out more about how you can contribute! 💪🏽 Video & Animation: by Maja Litzke Video Footage: Saskia Uppenkamp Sound: Dave DK Voices of collaborating artists: Toni Meyer, Vibha Galhotra, Kobina Nyarko MORE INFO: English: https://lnkd.in/du2aEQSN German: https://lnkd.in/dGZW3eNU #BanMicrofibers #UnderOurSkin

We highly recommend the OCEAN GALLERY in Stuttgart by our colleague and partner Julia Ochs. Expect outstanding photography with a purpose, a unique atmosphere, paired with beautiful events. 🌊👌🏽

The agreement of a UN #PlasticsTreaty has failed (for now). We're disappointed, sad, and enraged. So, where do we stand now, and what happened?
 💡 ❌ There are 3 reasons why the negotiations in Busan, Korea, failed: ⛽ The interests of the plastics and petrochemical industries held everyone back from solutions. They're also derailing progressive decision-making by disagreeing with a majority-vote approach. ⏰ The development of an agreed treaty text couldn't be achieved in the given time (one week). 🛑 Towards the end, civil society groups were locked out of the negotiating rooms, harming both the process and our ability to engage meaningfully. As a result, the treaty text didn't make progress on essential topics like: ➖ Plastic production reduction 💰 Finance 🔎 Transparency 🧪 Chemicals of concern That said, some particularly strong moments in Busan included speeches by Peru 🇵🇪 , Mexico 🇲🇽 , and Rwanda 🇷🇼 . They stood up for the 110 countries that have made clear: It is time to end the plastic pandemic and the harm caused by this toxic material! ▶️ The #PlasticsTreaty talks will continue in an extra session, INC 5.2, in 2025. ✊ ✊🏽 ✊🏾 We'll continue to stand strong with our partners Break Free From Plastic and everyone else fighting to heal the planet we live on. 🌎 🌊 📸 : Vincent Guth via Unsplash

Thank you GICA Impact Network for this feature of our founder Meike Schützek and Ocean. Now!'s mission. We can only give back the praise - accelerators like you contribute to social change. Together with you, we are making the waves we need for the planet and ocean to heal. 🌍 🌊

Thank you for sharing Break Free From Plastic 🙏🏽 We stand with you and this outstanding coalition of civil society to continue the fight for an ambitious #Plasticstreaty in 2025. 💪🏽🌍💙

Breaking: the #Plasticstreaty in Busan has failed (due to petro states derailing it)❗️A continued meeting is expected to take place in 2025. Before the conference closed, this strong moment gave hope to those who are fighting for a progressive treaty: Rwanda spoke on behalf of 85 ambitious countries. 💪🏽🌍💙 Thank you Alejandra Warren for sharing. 🙏🏽

It's Black Friday – and while those fast fashion deals may seem like a bargain, there is no such thing. Sadly, every piece has a real and lasting cost. We've now got:  🪐 A mountain of clothes that's visible from space 🏭 Vast amounts of fashion-industry carbon emissions heating our planet 🌍 Communities drowning in clothing waste 🐟 Plastic microfibers harming our marine life 🧪 …and we're wearing toxic chemicals against our skin So, this year, shut out the desperate wave of unfulfilling overconsumption. Ways to take action: 💪 Ignore the adverts. Your refusal to engage is an act of revolution. ✒️ Sign our petition to ask adidas to stop using plastic microfiber-shedding polyester in their clothing. You'll find the link in the comments. With Ocean love 💙 *** 📸: Andrej Lišakov via Unsplash+

Meet our exciting second guest for our IG Live next week! 👇 Dr. Elke Fischer is the Head of Laboratory at the University of Hamburg. One focus of her work is microplastics in marine, freshwater and land-based ecosystems. Elke leads the Microplastics Research Group at CEN (the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability). She’s deeply invested in the research around #microplastics and has published many studies on the topic, including on: 🦐 Microplastics in seafood 🔬 Microplastics in human cirrhotic liver tissue ☁️ Capturing airborne microplastics 🌍 Microplastics in the atmosphere and in groundwater systems 🌊 Findings in the North Atlantic Dr. Fischer is an expert in her field and we’re thrilled to have her as our guest on Tuesday, Dec 3rd, 18:30-19:00 CET, on Instagram https://lnkd.in/dv_An6PY. If you’re interested in her research or have questions about microplastics or microfibers, join us! Feel free to add your questions to the comment section below. 😊 📸 Elke Fischer

Today marks the beginning of INC-5: the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee. The goal of INC-5 is to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. INC-5 is scheduled to take place from 25 November to 1 December 2024 in Busan, Republic of Korea. The treaty is still at risk of being watered down - with discussions on whether it could be non-binding, and the oil and chemical-producing industries pushing for recycling as ‘the solution’. As a member of the Break Free From Plastic coalition - a global movement of more than than 13,000 organizations - Ocean. Now! is calling on all governments to #breakfreefromplastic and ensure: 1️⃣ On production: a plastics phasedown 2️⃣ On finance: a just and effective financial mechanism, a look at a global plastics fee and Extended Producer Responsibility, and the pitfalls of Plastic Credits 3️⃣ On just transition: non-negotiables for waste pickers and indigenous peoples; shifting to alternatives (for example away from single-use material, moving towards other systems) 4️⃣ On waste management: a review of plastics circularity and toxicity in recycling processes! 🙏 🌊 📖 Road to Busan’, https://lnkd.in/gq-bt9Hg 📸 Silas Baisch via Unsplash (edited)

Polyester in Fashion: Fact #4 🤔 Can PET (=polyester) act as an inflammatory stimuli in human tissues? In a proof-of-concept case series, a team of scientists in Germany analyzed the tissue samples of 6 patients with liver cirrhosis and 5 individuals without underlying liver disease. ❗️The concentrations of microplastics in cirrhotic liver tissues tested positive and showed significantly higher concentrations compared to the liver samples of individuals without underlying liver disease. In which ways can microplastics affect living organisms (i.e. human health)? Why don't scientific studies on humans find microfibers easily? ➡️ You have a chance to find out – in our second science talk with Dr Elke Fischer from University of Hamburg (who contributed to the study mentioned above) on: Dec 3, 18:30-19:00 Live on our Instagram account Source: "Microplastics detected in cirrhotic liver tissue" by Thomas Horvatits et al., 2022