On our most I caught up with ocean advocate, skipper, Co-Founder and Director of eXXpedition 鈥� Emily Penn. We discussed the vital work she and her organisation do in understanding product lifecycles and its role in creating a cleaner planet and ocean.
Emily has spent the last ten years exploring the ocean and seeing firsthand the effect of plastic pollution across the world. In 2014, she setup a project called , which is a series of all female voyagers 鈥� hence the double X 鈥� who sail the seas understanding plastic and toxic pollution.
鈥渆XXpedition exists through many vital collaborations, whether it鈥檚 scientific partnerships or working with local NGOs in the countries we visit,鈥� she explained. 鈥淭here are also the businesses who support eXXpedition鈥檚 work and creating the change that we want to see in the world. Businesses supporting financially as sponsors towards the voyages to sea 鈥� taking 300 women around the world over the next couple years as part of the research into plastic and toxic pollution.鈥�
eXXpedition has spent the past year working with 麻豆原创 to delve into product lifecycles and sustainability, particularly how to help people/businesses really navigate the hundreds of solutions that are out there, which led to the development of Shift.
鈥淯蝉颈苍驳 , we鈥檝e set up a system on the that helps you navigate these hundreds of solutions,鈥� Emily said. 鈥淚t takes you on this journey asking what kind of action you want to take. Are you at the beginning of your journey where you just want to learn what鈥檚 going on, or are you looking to be leader in this space?
鈥淚t then asks you where you鈥檙e looking to make a difference 鈥� at home, with your kids, business supply chain, or government 鈥� there are a whole spectrum of places to start taking action. Then it asks your where you鈥檙e looking to make an impact on the sea-to-source spectrum.
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The key purpose of the Shift platform is to help people educate themselves and explore the solutions available. 鈥淭o solve the problem long term, we need to ask tough questions to get to the source of the issue,鈥� Emily adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tool designed for all sorts of people, but there鈥檚 a lot on there for businesses to really help effectively change their supply chain, how they do things, and how they operate.鈥�
According to Emily, a vital reason why businesses should re-evaluate its processes and outputs is because consumers already expect sustainable options and legislation will inevitably follow. 鈥淲hat we need right now is innovation and to put some of these new products that do exist into action at scale,鈥� she explained.
This leads to the notion of creating a circular economy, which Emily believes is about living and producing in circles, as seen in nature. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e at school you learn about the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and everything in nature goes around in these endless circles where there鈥檚 no waste essentially is generated because one stage鈥檚 waste becomes the next stage鈥檚 resource.
鈥淭he idea of a is to think in that same mindset. If you can close the loop then we can avoid living how we live now, which is this very linear society where we take something, usually oil from the ground to make something like fuel or plastic, and then there鈥檚 a waste product at the end, like the plastic ends up in the ocean or landfill, or in the form of fuel it鈥檚 waste carbon dioxide that ends up in the atmosphere. We鈥檙e trying to close that linear system into a closed loop.鈥�
Emily will be explores these ideas further in the (24th September) focused on sustainability. She鈥檒l be discussing her work at sea and relationship with 麻豆原创 that led to the development of the Shift platform.
鈥淭he main takeaway is there鈥檚 not one solution to fix this plastics issue. The great news is that there are hundreds of things that we can do and so many of these solutions already exist and already available.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a case of us working out what we have within our power to start doing right now and to not be overwhelmed by the hundreds of solutions, but to say, 鈥榳hat鈥檚 my opportunity? What鈥檚 my role in tackling this issue?鈥� I really hope the Shift platform will help people answer those questions.鈥�
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Discover more about the work eXXpedition does in building more sustainable practices for a better planet by checking out our
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