Pristine Ocean Podcast

Peter Hall

The Pristine Ocean Podcast shares real stories about people fighting marine plastic pollution. Listen in for new insights how we are all connected in the task of keeping the oceans pristine. read less
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Episodes

39. A Paris for Plastics? with Christina Dixon from the Environmental Investigation Agency
Jun 30 2022
39. A Paris for Plastics? with Christina Dixon from the Environmental Investigation Agency
Environmental Investigation AgencyUnited Nations Treaty to End Plastic PollutionGet in contactpeter.hall@pristineocean.globalYou are probably aware of some of the challenges in finding a solution to the plastic crisis the world is facing. 3 challenges in no particular order come to mind:Challenge 1: Data. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” which certainly applies to  plastic waste management. But we can’t measure it because we don’t have the data about how much plastic is being produced, how much waste is exported, how much imported and after that it becomes a guessing game about how much actually lands in the ocean. Challenge 2: Laws. Packaging companies need a level playing field so that if they improve the environmental friendliness of their products, that this does not put them at a commercial disadvantage. Challenge 3: Finance. Waste management infrastructure will have to be expanded in the countries that can least afford it.All these challenges would be complicated enough for one country. But to be effective, all countries need to be aboard. These challenges have to be addressed globally.Did you know, that the United Nations is working on a treaty to solve these issues? In March 2022, the UN Member States endorsed the UN Environment Programme 5 which is a resolution to End Plastic Pollution with the intention to have a full resolution in 2024.Today we are talking to someone who is deeply involved in the negotiations to formulate that resolution. She is Christina Dixon from the Environmental Investigation Agency or EIA. She is fighting for the planet.We talked about the urgency of the treaty and the similarities to efforts to manage the climate crisis and whether the treaty can be thought of a type of Paris for Plastics.Full Interview
33. The Beach Collective with Rob from $Beach
Nov 27 2021
33. The Beach Collective with Rob from $Beach
Beach TokenThe relationship between the economy and the environment is not an easy one. Most modern economies are based around the profit principle. But this doesn't work well for environmental projects.You can put a price on environmental degradation. But without the intensive international deal-making and haggling over environmental pricing, it is difficult to place a dollar value on a clean beach or an intact coral reef.  What is the value of a kilo of rubbish removed from a beach compared to a kilo removed from the river that empties near that beach?  What is the value of that kilo of waste plastic that put in a land fill compared to the kilo burnt in a cement kiln? What is the difference whether that kilo is in India or is in Africa? These values are difficult to agree on just for a particular location. And they can be completely different from one location to the next. Maybe the problem is not the economic value but the currency itself.   Maybe we need a currency more suited to the demands of environmental projects which are typically international and highly local. Sounds like a crypto-currency right? This week we're talking to Rob from the crypto token Beach which is designed to fill the needs of groups of people such as digital nomads moving through different locations exchanging services. These services may be delivered over the internet or locally.  Currently the organization behind the Beach token has funding available for ocean preservation projects and I applaud that.Script of conversation with Rob Cobbold.
29. Exploring with Purpose with Jean-Baptiste from Nomad Plastic
Oct 16 2021
29. Exploring with Purpose with Jean-Baptiste from Nomad Plastic
Nomad PlasticEcotoursimYou have probably heard the term.You might be attracted to the idea that your personal travels could not just expand your own personal universe but could also have a positive impact on the environment of the place you are visiting.You might wish that the people who live there would benefit by maybe expanding their view of the environment. This could happen by an exchange of information and ideas to address environmental challenges.Imagine travelling with a group of 10 people onboard a  traditionally built wooden boat, through far-flung islands in Indonesia. The boat is run on zero waste principles and at each stop, you explore the environment through the eyes of the local people.I think that would be attractive to a lot of people. I personally would love a journey like that. Today we are talking to a JB from the company Nomad PlasticFrom spring 2022 Nomad Plastic will be running tours, like these.JB graduate engineer who has just completed a masters degree into waste management at the Hong Kong university of science and technology.I sat down with JeanBaptistte and talked about his studies and where he is going with the ecotourism project.His vision is to become an entrepreneur in the waste management space. During his studies, he analysed over 70 existing waste management projects and established the three factors that determine whether a project succeeds or fails.JB did a post-doctorate degree and studied over 70 different waste mitigation projects.The main takeaways were - lack of technological know-how- lack of a business model- lack of assessment of social impact
28. Circularity with Wilhelm from empower.eco
Sep 12 2021
28. Circularity with Wilhelm from empower.eco
EmpowerWelcome to the Pristine Ocean podcast. I'm your host Peter Hall. In the podcast, we talked to people and projects around the world, tackling the scourge of marine plastic litter.  You may have heard the term circular economy. It means feeding waste materials back into valuable products.  But the demands of circularity create problems for the waste collectors. The waste collectors will need to document and track their work.  They will want to make the claim “I collected this material at this place and at this time”. But as in any business transaction, it comes down to trust and the only way to gain trust is transparency. You need some kind of book or ledger where you can enter your claim.  Other stakeholders should be able to look into this ledger and importantly, nobody should be able to make changes like adding or removing a few zeros.  In this episode we are talking to the founder of Empower. Empower is a Norwegian company which has created the digital infrastructure to account for collected plastics and currency transactions anywhere in the world.  It's all based on blockchain technology. You've probably heard about the blockchain, but if you still don't get it, you are not alone.  Think of it as an Excel spreadsheet somewhere in the Internet. You can add a row to this spreadsheet, but you can't change the data in the existing rows. This makes it great for recording transactions.  With different materials and currencies with different players.  All around the world.  Empower has projects in over 30 countries of the world and has gained unique insights into how to solve the plastic crisis.  Here's the interview with Wilhelm, the founder of Empower.
26. River Barriers with Marcos from Pangea
Aug 29 2021
26. River Barriers with Marcos from Pangea
PangeaRivers. They are nature's conveyor belts powered by the pull of the moon. They run tirelessly day and night pumping not only water but also trash into the ocean. They are thought to be the source of 80% of marine plastic pollution. Even up to 2018, it was thought that just ten rivers in the world were responsible for that. These were large rivers connecting cities to the oceans. More recently, it has been found that this model seriously underestimates the influence of smaller rivers. Nowadays the science is reporting about 1000 rivers, bringing 80% of plastic to the ocean. This leakage needs to be plugged to stop ocean plastic litter, but how? One tool that is showing promise is something called river barriers. The one’s that I've seen are made by hanging a grid on a series of floaters and stringing them across a flowing waterway. They are passive devices that use the power of the water to concentrate the waste 24/7. Volunteers or contractors come and clean them out regularly. But how will these structures be financed? What financial models will pay for scaling up and catching all this trash? Pangea is a startup which not only plans to scale up river barriers, but they also have the know how to generate the necessary funding. I had the pleasure of talking to the founder of Pangia, Marcos Bulacio. His story is both inspiring and heartwarming. I hope you enjoy it. I certainly did. Full transcript of interview
25. Citizen Science with Seán from OpenLitterMap
Aug 20 2021
25. Citizen Science with Seán from OpenLitterMap
OpenLitterMapPristine OceanFull transcriptI was always fascinated by maps. As a child, I loved opening an Atlas, finding a remote town or city, and imagining what life was like in that place. What did these streets and buildings look like? Exploring the world with my fingers was always a thrill. When Google Maps arrived on the scene in 2005, I was hooked. Google Maps is OK, I guess if you have an Internet connexion, you know what Google Maps is.Having all those free maps in an easy to use interface. Technologically, it was a world wonder, a moon shot. It was like having your own personal pyramid in your pocket. But Google did not create maps for the fame, they were in it for the fortune. Data is the new oil. Google uses maps to collect data which they then own to earn money for their advertising business. We, the users provide the data, but Google owns it. A lot of people were imagining a universe where the data remained in the public domain. The open data movement crossed the technology of Google Maps with the principles of Wikipedia. The result, something called OpenStreetMaps. Today we’re talking to a geographer who’s taken the idea of OpenStreetMaps a step further he has created a tool called OpenLitterMaps. He wants people like you and me going around into the world and collecting images of litter using an app on a smartphone. When you do this, you are engaging in citizen science, also known as crowdsourcing. OpenLitterMaps is still a work in progress. There are still some essential aspects to be done, mainly making the data entry more fun and more rewarding. But for municipalities, for scientists, for anybody working for a clean environment, the opportunities are enormous. I was really looking forward to the interview with Sean and he displayed a level of passion and knowledge that really just knocked me over.
24. The Startup with Ben from Effekt Footwear
Aug 8 2021
24. The Startup with Ben from Effekt Footwear
Effekt FootwearFashion might be a statement about who you are, but mostly it's about feeling good with yourself, feeling good, not just in your skin, but in the clothes you're wearing.  For a lot of people, feeling good means that the materials also have to be sustainable. Will consumers buy clothes and shoes that make the statement:“I care about the environment”. The simple answer is: we don't know.  But a startup in Austria wants to find out.They are creating a sneaker which they claimed to be the *trashiest* sneaker on the planet. It's made almost entirely from materials recovered from the waste stream, including ocean plastics. It's great idea, but will customers go for it? If they had an enormous budget, they could have designed and produced the shoes and checked outthe market reaction, but a big budget was just something they didn't have.  Instead, they created a crowdfunding campaign on a site called Kickstarter. If the project got funded, they figured then there might be enough interest there to build a business around creating this sustainable shoe.  Setting up the Kickstarter project was the easy bit, then began the nail biting. Would the project reach its funding target or would it just fizzle out and be forgotten?  Ben grew up in Australia, but he is now settled in Austria with his Austrian partner and their new baby. During the day he studies packaging technology. After hours, he follows his dream of creating footwear that won't trash the planet.  July, the fifth was a big day for Ben. It was his birthday and he just turned 34 but maybe more even more importantly, his Kickstarter project had reached its funding goal. He and his team at Effekt Footwear want to change the way that people think about what is fashionable. He thinks that wearing footwear made from virgin fossil fuels is not cool. Ben's dream is to create a sneaker that people would love to wear because it's made of recycled materials. But marketing a good idea successfully requires a lot of drive and determination. Is Ben made out of there right stuff to get this over the finishing line?
23. Charity Tokens with Jan from cleanocean
Jul 31 2021
23. Charity Tokens with Jan from cleanocean
Clean OceanPristine OceanYou might have heard about some amazing stories about crypto currencies in the last few months. Stories about a currency shooting up to the moon and then falling back to Earth.Criminals using cryptocurrencies for their payments and maybe most disturbing of all, the environmental footprint associated with cryptocurrency mining, and then came their tweet from Elon Musk causing the market to drop dramatically.I can imagine that you're thinking that the whole market is bad, but there are some good people looking for applications that will have a positive impact.That's why when I heard about a cryptocurrency that are being created to fund ocean preservation projects, I wanted to know more.The term they use is charity token. It's a cryptocurrency, but it's got charity baked into it. The idea with charity tokens is that part of the transaction fees associated with trading are donated to ocean preservation projects like Sea Shepherd or Ocean cleanup. These are famous ocean preservation projects that constantly need donations to keep their operations running.I decided to contact the founder of the company that had launched this charity token.But transparency is not something associated with the crypto world. I was wondering which part of the darknet I would have to access to get in contact with this crypto king.As it turns out, it was pretty easy. There's a picture of him and his contact details on the website cleanocean.ioJan, the founder of Clean Ocean was interested in talking, but he was busy.He and his team were out in the field cleaning up after the recent German floods.I thought this is not your typical cryptocurrency operation.When he got back to the office, I sat down with him and asked him about whether or not clean ocean is an environmental organisation with a crypto side, or it's a crypto operation with an environmental side. Have a listen to the interview and decide for yourself.... continue here