In researching options for our new office vacuum, we came across Electrolux’s Vacs from the Sea initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to raise awareness about the plastic waste that ends up in oceans and along their shore lines with the hope of increasing recycling efforts.
As the Electrolux team explains on their website: “Our intention is to bring awareness to the situation and the need for better plastic karma. So far, over 60 million people have been reached and we are continuing the initiative following the great response.”
Along with partners, and in some cases local communities, they organized collection efforts using various methods (beach/coastal cleanup, coral reef diving, and trawling) along and in our five oceans. They then took the reclaimed plastic and created vacuums with statements specific to the region from which the plastic was collected, and each one of the five is a unique work of art.
While Electrolux is not currently able to use the reclaimed ocean plastic in mass production they are thinking of auctioning off one of the vacuums to further research in this area.
“Right now, only post consumer plastic on land meets our commercial safety and quality standards. However, as part of our commitment to researching new materials, we should explore how the ocean plastic might be used in the future, and one such step is to make a single concept vac that we can auction out,” says Electrolux’s Cecilia Nord.
Check out their blog on this great initiative.
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