This is a story that begins on Koh Lipe, an island in the Andaman Sea near the border of Malaysia, a popular spot for travellers. It is known for lots of small islands, sandy beaches and coral-rich waters.
Tom Peacock-Nazil and wife Pamela needed a break from their hectic urban life in Singapore, their home for the past seven years, and so, about two and a half years ago, they headed off to Koh Lipe for their escape.
It ended up with him quitting his finance job to set up a social enterprise called Seven Clean Seas aimed at addressing the problem of plastic waste through technology and plastic credits.
There’s no denying that plastic waste is a huge problem – 11 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean every year. And if we carry on as we’re doing today, by 2040, this will go up to 29 million tonnes, that’s equivalent to 50 kilogrammes for every metre of coastline globally – so that means every single year, every single metre of coastline would have the equivalent of 50 kilogrammes of plastic.
It therefore needs an analytical and financial approach to tackle it at scale. With his finance background Tom has broken down the problem into parts, and he’s figured out a way to get his projects funded.
Have a listen to how it all began. It’s a fascinating story of passion, driven by purpose as well as business thinking. Plus guess which daily item is the single biggest culprit of plastic pollution?
If you are interested in supporting Seven Clean Seas, you can do so through their website.