A pair of Australia-based bules are looking to clean up our beaches and repurpose Bali’s prolific plastic waste.
Luise Grossmann and Felix Wunner have an eco-friendly surf fin. The idea was conceived in Bali, developed in Germany, and made real in Australia, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The German founders of the surf brand Five Oceans premiered their ecoFin documentary and launched a campaign on Kickstarter this week, and have already raised almost AUD10,000 of their AUD35,000 goal.
Grossmann seems to have taken inspiration for the idea from her time surfing in Bali and being smacked with trash while in the ocean.
“The worst time of the year is the rainy season, when the rivers and creeks wash everything to the beaches. Every time we surf, we paddle through plastic bags and garbage floating around. Waste is everywhere, sometimes it’s cleaned up where the tourists go, but often you just go around the corner and it’s horrible,” she said, as quoted by the SMH.
The fins are apparently mostly made from bottle tops and small packaging, which is picked up from Bali’s beaches, then sent to Java for processing. The plastic pellets are then sent to a factory in Brisbane where they are made into the surf fins.
