100,000 Trees Were Planted and Over 25 Million Square Feet of Land and Sea Were Cleaned Up

August 26, 2021 – Malibu, California – Plastic Oceans International is pleased to share the impact of its first-ever Trees & Seas Festival, a diverse celebration that united ocean and forest conservation worldwide, from August 2 to 8, 2021.

Remotely and in person, organizers, partners and volunteers collaborated on over 100 free events in 32 locations around the globe. This resulted in 100,000 trees being planted, over 25,000,000 square feet (2,300,000 million square meters) of land and water cleaned of plastic pollution and other waste (over 15,000 pounds), and over 20,000 participants in panel discussions, workshops, live chats, film screenings, and cultural events.

Trees & Seas“The festival exceeded our expectations,” said Tod Hardin, Chief Operating Officer of Plastic Oceans International. “Our mission to protect the planet through a collective, holistic and bottom up approach resonated with people in every corner of the world. It was truly an inspirational experience that I’ll never forget and our entire team is dedicated and looking forward to making it even better in 2022.”

Co-organized this year with ÜÑÜ, a Chilean lifestyle brand, and presented by Montes Wines, Trees & Seas was a two-year labor of love. It was originally slated to launch last year, but was instead pushed to 2021 due to the global pandemic.

“It was a wait well worth it,” said Javier Garcia, founder of ÜÑÜ. “In the end we still had a pandemic to navigate around, which wasn’t easy, but we made it happen and we were able to do so through great collaboration with the local communities we were in. What our collective global efforts were able to accomplish was something to behold. Imagine what we can all do next year!”

Chile’s Chiloé Island, which is part of the iconic Patagonia region, served as the symbolic hub of this year’s festival. Satellite events took place in 16 countries spread out among five continents. 

“It was a transformative week working side-by-side with all the volunteers at Trees & Seas,” said Aurelio Montes, founder of Montes Wines. “You do not come to understand the importance of these acts until you really become part of them. Undoubtedly, the care of nature in a structured and organized way, together with the concern and education at an early age of certain communities with respect to the care of the environment is what we must leave as a legacy to future generations.”

In addition to Montes Wines, additional key partners included One Tree Planted, Avocado Green Mattress, EcoWatch, @BambuuBrush, Fondo, Natracare, FOAMIE, Fundacion MERI, Lago Sofia, Innovasea, Ectagono, ProNatura Hotel Estancia Rilan and Automotora Berrios.

Plans are already underway for 2022, with preliminary details to be announced by the end of the year. To learn more about Trees & Seas visit https://plasticoceans.org/trees-and-seas/.

Trees & Seas

About Trees & Seas Festival
Trees & Seas is a weeklong festival celebrating and uniting ocean and forest conservation in over 30 locations worldwide. It’s part of Plastic Oceans International’s BlueCommunities initiative and has a mission to emphasize how we are all one planet … one environment … and in the end, one global community united in our effort to foster a healthier and more just planet for all.

 About Plastic Oceans International
A US-based non-profit organization working to foster sustainable communities worldwide as a means to end plastic pollution. They operate with the belief that we can and must act locally in order to create and inspire change on a global scale. They do so through activism, advocacy, education and science, driven by the ability of film to empower and globalize community actions. In addition to their global entity, Plastic Oceans has branches in Los Angeles, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Europe and the Great Lakes region of the U.S.

CONTACT:
Tod Hardin
info@plasticoceans.org