AD – The World’s First Card Reader Made From Recycled Ocean Plastic – The Ocean Reader From iZettle
Plastic waste has become a global crisis with over 5 trillion pieces of plastic littering our oceans. Discarded fishing ropes and nets make-up a large amount of the rubbish! Swamped by the big issue of climate change, a group of iZettle colleagues had an idea – to make a small change and create a special edition card reader from recycled plastic. One year later, their idea is a reality and I travelled to Gandys store in London, a sustainable and ethical travel company (more on them later) to see one of the Worlds first card readers made from 75% recycled ocean plastic, the Ocean Reader.
The team at iZettle took on this project with the notion that every little bit helps, and with the hope that it might inspire other companies to explore similar initiatives. It may just be a drop in the ocean, but it joins a wave of change. The Ocean Reader gives businesses a more climate conscious payment option, whilst helping our oceans become plastic free.
A climate conscious choice
To create the Ocean Reader, iZettle partnered with Oceanworks, the global marketplace for recycled ocean plastics. Plastic has to be actively destroyed for it to disappear. If nothing is done about plastic pollution, the plastic in our oceans will outweigh fish by 2050. A significant amount of the plastic in our seas originate from abandoned fishing gear. Removing and recycling this waste reduces the damaging effect of floating “ghost nets” and microplastics on sea life. With the Ocean Reader initiative, iZettle helped to remove over one tonne of plastic, mainly old fishing nets and ropes, from the North and Baltic seas.
20% of the sale price of all Ocean Readers sold will be donated to organisations committed to removing plastic from our oceans.
The Ocean Reader and charging dock are gorgeous deep sea-green with a mottled wave effect that’s unique to every reader. But while no two are alike on the surface, they all share the same technology as the iZettle Reader 2.
About Oceanworks
In 2016, Oceanworks CEO Rob Lanelli created a pair of ocean plastic sunglasses, and was inspired to make it easier for more companies to source and trace recycled sea plastic. Today, Oceanworks is a global leader in recycled sea plastic. Their mission is to accelerate the market for recycled ocean plastic by making it easily accessible as a valuable resource. Oceanworks high marketplace standards mean you can trace the Ocean Reader’s plastic back to the source.
Gandys – “Don’t Just exist- give back”
Back to my visit to Gandys store in London where I saw the Ocean Reader in action. If you haven’t heard of Gandys before, first famous for their flip-flops, they are not a fashion brand but rather a travel and lifestyle one.
Gandys was set up by two orphaned brothers Rob & Paul. Inspired by the loss of their parents in the 2004 Tsunami, they founded Gandys along with their charitable foundation, from their bedroom in London, with the aim of building schools around the world in a touching tribute to their parents. The Gandys foundation supports the Orphans for Orphans initiative – aiding underprivileged children with education, medication and nutrition. If you are interested in their story they have a book, The Tsunami kids, Our Journey from survival to success, which I bought to read and pass on.
I enjoyed looking around their store with so much to choose from. They have smaller items like hats and gloves, through to jackets and their knitwear is gorgeous. All of their products contain materials that are ethically and sustainably sourced. There is an emphasis on unisex clothing made to last that is perfect for adventures and travelling. They want to use fashion for good and use profits to fund their journey to help more countries, children and societies to live a fulfilled and happy life, where they don’t feel threatened or scared to leave their homes. Rob & Paul have now funded 4 Kids Campuses in Sri Lanka (2014 ) which has recently been extended. Malawi in 2016, Nepal 2019 and Brazil which is currently being built.
It’s a great place to buy a present with purpose. Rather than contributing to the mass consumerism surrounding Christmas, you can spend ethically and sustainable and help Gandys build campuses around the world.
James and I bought each other an early present of a wooly hat.
It’s great to see companies like iZettle and Gandys making these changes and thinking of ways to help, rather than contribute, to the plastic problem!
I love reading about sustainable companies or products as the environment is a huge deal for me, what a great idea on creating the recyclable card reader as I would have never thought of it.
I’d never even considered that card readers could become sustainable! That’s awesome. Sounds like both Gandys and iZettle are really putting our planet at the forefront of their work. X
9 Comments
This is great! Now we just need others to follow x
This is so great to hear, lets hope now that other organisations follow and start to go down this route
This is such a nice thing to see. It might only be a drop in the ocean but every small thing adds up, here’s hoping more brands start using this x
What a brilliant idea from iZettle! Such an eco friendly design and I love that they are giving 20% of each sale to organisations too!
A Very good idea, more companies should do more things like this to make the change.
This is clearly a very good idea for sure. always good when the environment is helped
I love reading about sustainable companies or products as the environment is a huge deal for me, what a great idea on creating the recyclable card reader as I would have never thought of it.
This is such a tremendous leap in the right direction when it comes to helping the environment.
I’d never even considered that card readers could become sustainable! That’s awesome. Sounds like both Gandys and iZettle are really putting our planet at the forefront of their work. X