OUR STORY

We’re on a mission to end the ocean plastic crisis

Alex Schulze and Andrew Cooper were inspired to create 4ocean after taking a surf trip to Bali, Indonesia, in 2015. While they had grown up in Florida and made their living from the ocean, Bali is where they truly began to understand the severity of the ocean plastic crisis and its impact not just on marine life, but on the coastal communities that, like them, relied on the health of the ocean to survive.

After speaking with local fishermen whose livelihoods were negatively impacted by plastic pollution, Alex and Andrew decided to build a company that would hire boat captains and fishermen in communities heavily impacted by plastic pollution as full-time, professional cleanup crew members to recover plastic and other harmful debris from the ocean, rivers, and coastlines seven days a week.

Since the very beginning, our co-founders envisioned a business model where the materials 4ocean crews recovered from the ocean would be used to develop new and innovative products that raise awareness about the ocean plastic crisis, fund a global ocean cleanup operation, and empower individuals around the world to end their reliance on single-use plastic.

Now, 4ocean has cleanup divisions in Florida, Bali, Haiti, and Guatemala, and recovers millions of pounds of trash from the ocean, rivers, and coastlines every year. We’ve introduced countless sustainable and reusable products including a line of affordable single-use alternatives that continues to grow, and, thanks to our One Pound Promise, have made it possible for anyone, anywhere to clean the ocean.