Airbnb Co-Founder Donates $25 Million to Get Plastic Out of The Ocean

The co-founder of Airbnb just donated $25 million to a nonprofit that is working to get plastic out of the ocean and tackle the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Source: The Ocean Cleanup/Youtube

Co-founder and Entrepreneur Joe Gebbia donated a whopping $25 million to The Ocean Cleanup this week to Support the nonprofit’s efforts to remove plastic from our oceans and rivers.

Fortune reported that while plastic and waste in our oceans is a top issue, it rarely receives adequate funding. According to the World Economic Forum, about $175 billion a year is needed to protect the oceans. However, between 2015 and 2019, less than $10 billion was invested in ocean sustainability.

Gebbia said that he was happy to partner with the nonprofit, and his donation was declared the largest in its history.

“The Ocean Cleanup has created systems and technology that actually work at scale,” Gebbia said in a statement to The Associated Press. “In order for them to deploy across our oceans and rivers, they now need to scale their funding. It is my hope that this donation can inspire others to act.”

The Ocean Cleanup welcomed the donation and will use it to continue its work to remove plastic floating in the ocean as well as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The organization also works to reduce the amount of plastic that flows into the oceans in the first place.

“Joe’s continued Support of The Ocean Cleanup’s mission has a direct impact on our operations all over the world,” Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Thanks, in part, to his generous assistance, we are able to scale up our work in oceans and rivers, helping us reach our goal of ridding the world’s oceans of plastic.”

We produce so much plastic every year that ends up in the ocean and landfills. 700 marine animals are faced with extinction due to the threat that plastic poses to them in the form of entanglement, Pollution, and ingestion. 50 percent of sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs. By 2050, 99 percent of all seabird species will have ingested plastic waste. According to a study by the World Economic Forum, there will be one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish by 2025, and if things go on business as usual, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050.

Read more about how companies like Facebook, Tupperware, Google, Dove,  Budweiser, Carlsberg, and FIJI Water are working towards reducing plastic Pollution. Places around the world like Tel Aviv, California, Baltimore, Scotland, and many more are banning various single-use plastics, and others are coming up with creative ways to recycle and use plastic waste.

There are products you may be using or habits you may have that contribute to plastic Pollution. Learn more about how the use of Teabags, Cotton Swabs, Laundry, Contact Lenses, Glitter, and Sheet Masks pollute our oceans so you can make more informed decisions going forward. There are also numerous simple actions and switches that can help cut plastic out of our lives including, making your own cosmetics, shampoo, toothpaste, soap, household cleaners, using mason jars, reusable bags/bottles/straws, and avoiding microbeads!

Related Content:

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• New Technology Being Used to Remove Large Amounts of Ocean Plastic
• 5 Cutting Edge Brands That are Making Clothing with Ocean Plastic
• The Troubling Impact of Ocean Plastics on Human Health

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

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• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take initiative by standing up against fast fashion Pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that raise awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.
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• Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, Donate if you can, grow your food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!