Landfills aren’t the only place that our waste is ending up. 8 million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean annually, and that number is steadily increasing – it just about doubles every 10 years. Researchers estimate that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Most of this plastic pollution comes from trash that has been thrown away or left as litter, even from locations a good distance from coastlines. This trash makes its way down inland rivers, drainage systems, and canals over time. The ocean will be its final destination, where it will stay for a very long time.

Plastic does not ever truly decompose. Instead, it gradually breaks down into smaller pieces, called microplastics, over the course of about 450 years. All of the plastic pollution in the ocean will eventually become microplastic as the sun, waves and salt slowly wear it down. Once they break apart, they are difficult to see and impossible to remove. 70% will sink to the ocean floor, and the rest end up trapped in currents. Strong ocean winds create circular gyres that move litter throughout the ocean. Eventually, the currents will bring the trash to the center of the gyre, where it will become trapped in what is essentially a vortex. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a huge floating trash dump, is at the center of one of these gyres about halfway in between California and Hawaii. It’s estimated that about 80,000 tons of trash is stuck in the patch with nowhere else left to go.

Rochelle’s engineering background combined with Derek’s entrepreneurial experience led them to design the next generation of touch-free soap and sanitizer dispensers. The devices are crafted from stainless steel and they utilize bulk-refill technology, which means no more expensive and wasteful proprietary plastic refill cartridges ending up in our oceans.