Latest Stories from Jessica
Bower transforms ghost fishing nets into sustainable swimwear
The way we consume products affects the planet we live on. In light of World Oceans Day, it’s time we highlight initiatives and brands working together to create products that leave our seas better off. While improving the health of our oceans will require a collective effort on a variety of different fronts, figuring out how to eradicate the most visible culprit – plastic pollution – is one of...
AI is being taught to monitor coral reef health through its ‘songs’
Who’s making the hardest beats under the sea these days? We’ll soon find out, because British scientists have trained AI to track the sounds of coral reefs to monitor their health. It’s not all Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo narratives down there, but regardless, the ocean is a noisy place - especially in areas where sea life is abundant. In particular, the complex soundscapes discovered amongst coral reefs can offer up...
Momentum building ahead of 2022 UN Ocean Conference
The President of the UN General Assembly has urged attendees to ‘arrive with demonstrable evidence of progress’ in providing solutions to the current ocean crisis. Documentaries such as ‘Seaspiracy’ and ‘A Plastic Ocean’ raised public alarm on the vitality of Earth’s oceans for humanity’s survival – a fact that marine biologists have known for years. Though the general public is only now waking up to the atrocities taking place out at...
Diving into the Pacific Ocean’s plastic nightmare
Somewhere floating in the Pacific is a collection of plastic so large, experts can only estimate its size - an incomprehensible mass of 1.6 million km2. Unless you’ve been ignoring the state of the planet, don’t have a Netflix account (or access to somebody else’s) and haven’t been graced by the eighth wonder of the world David Attenborough, it’s likely you’re already aware of the plastic problem plaguing our seas. Since...
Ocean acidification is a major threat to coastal marine life
Scientists believed marine ecosystems could adapt to warming waters. However, rapid ocean acidification is posing an additional threat to this process. Here at Thred, we’ve showcased several projects which have been designed to deal with one of the ocean’s biggest man-made problems – plastic pollution. Lately though, scientists have grown increasingly concerned about one of the ocean’s natural processes, particularly its ability to absorb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The vast...
Rethinking international trade routes vital to saving marine life
With demand for global freight on the rise, maritime trade is set to triple its capacity by 2050. What could this mean for the ocean’s largest animals? What a time to be alive, eh? Our blueberries are from Morocco, our prawns from Vietnam, and even our avocados travel across the gigantic Atlantic from Mexico before landing in our shopping basket. That’s right, we live in the era of globalisation, where a...
Is reverting back to basics inevitable to save our planet?
Centuries of optimising our daily habits to save time, money, and effort has seen our planet pay the environmental cost. Can going back to old ways of life be the only way to reverse the damage? For centuries, humanity has chipped away at finding ways to make daily life easier. But as we’ve learned, easier doesn’t always mean better. The mass production of cars gave individuals independence and freedom, but led...
Sean Paul speaks out on climate change and social issues
You know him for his club bangers, but the Jamaican dancehall legend has had more on his mind lately. Sean Paul is speaking out on environmental issues, Jamaica’s colonial past, and dancehall’s newest Gen-Z artists. I got the right temperature fi shelter you from the storm, sings Sean Paul inside thousands of nightclubs around the world every weekend. And don’t we all wish we could live inside an early 2000’s top-charting...
RECO uses deadstock leather to make luxury handbags
Born out of a pandemic project, RECO takes deadstock leather from the factories of the world’s biggest brands and transforms it into exclusive, luxury handbag collections. As the fashion industry comes under increasing pressure to lower its ranking on the environmental destruction index, the world’s most sought-after brands are starting to experiment with vegan and mushroom leather alternatives. Numerous companies have launched to encourage sustainable consumption of luxury items, including...
Recyclable and biodegradable Covid test kits are in the works
Award-winning design and innovation consultants at Morrama have developed a concept for Covid tests that are both recyclable and biodegradable. Last November, ocean-dwelling plastic waste deriving from the pandemic was estimated at being over 26,000 tonnes. That’s more than the weight of 2,000 double decker buses. No one is happy about this, but the immediate global need for items like single-use masks, rapid flow tests, and other essential medical supplies unfortunately...
