If you close your eyes and imagine a flourishing future in your very own home, what do you see? We see compostable, seaweed-based packaging.
@planethaus was one of our very SF Climate Week events, with an immersive home installation featuring hundreds of sustainable every products — all of which are already in market! These products are doing better along our supply chains, for consumer health, and through their environmental impact.
Amid the packed speaker sessions, packaging got a spotlight. Sway CEO & Co-Founder @juliajmarsh shared how materials that are home compostable, made with better ingredients (like regeneratively farmed seaweed!), and produced via legacy plastic machinery are helping drive this future.
Thanks to all who made this day possible, including @planetfwd , @juliaecollins , @danielleavocado , @ecoenclose , and @drbronner 🌞
Interested in learning more? Visit swaythefuture.com to join the wave 🌊
Our first year with Merlin, little wizard growing wiser by the day.
He brings us so much joy. Down for whatever. Smart and affectionate. A bewildering goofball.
Thank you @pivotkennels 🌞✨
#wirehairedvizsla #wirehairedhungarianvizsla #whv
Celebrating World Ocean Day with the release of Seaweed Stories, featuring Sway, now officially streaming on @LeonardoDiCaprio ’s Youtube channel! (Literally what?! How this this real!??)
Seaweed Stories, narrated by Forest Whitaker, is a vibrant, global look at the wonders of seaweed, and some of the extraordinary stories and unique characters whose lives have been entangled by this often overlooked marine material.
Seaweed isn’t just seaweed. It’s packaging. It’s climate action. It’s our past and our future.
10,000 thank you’s to @lonelywhale , director @jake_sumo , and @rewild for the tremendous love and effort you poured into this project. It has been a great honor to participate in the film and celebrate it with the broader seaweed community, especially alongside ocean heroes like Dr. Kathy Ann Miller (featured in the film), and Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (whose work helped inspire us to start Sway in the first place).
We must do all we can to protect our oceans – they are the source of every other breath we take, home to 80% of our planet’s biodiversity, and the greatest carbon sink on the planet. Thriving ocean ecosystems, including seaweed, play a great role in preserving all of the above.
Watch the 30min film now – youtube.com/@LeonardoDiCaprio – I’d love to hear what you think!
@shinnecockkelpfarmers@greenwaveorg@ucberkeleyofficial@jake_sumo@coastfilmfestival@ForestWhitaker@trousdaleventures@ayanaeliza@swaythefuture
#worldoceanday #seaweed #seaweedstories
Part I: Scenes from Guatemala, 5 years ago. Guatemala remains arguably the most adventure-ridden, mystical, and purely delightful country we visited on our adventure on the Pan-American highway.
1: A preview of Semuc Chempey, one of the destinations we were most anticipating in Central America.
2-6: Tikal, the ruins of an ancient Mayan city. We learned that Tikal was so covered by jungle in the centuries following its decline that Hernan Cortes trotted right past the ruins in 1525 without even noticing them! The city was so enveloped by greenery, that it wasn’t “rediscovered” until 1848 – despite taking up six square miles of land and containing 3,000 structures.
7-10: The best, worst drive we ever took. We accidentally took the old, old, “highway” to Semuc Champey, which led us up thousands of feet of treacherous single-lane dirt road, adding about 4 hours to our journey. We crawled up above the valley through rain and mist, past limestone cliffs and pinkish tropical trees where tiny Mayan villages stood propped against the hillsides. Elderly men hike up the old highway by foot with bushels of branches on their backs, and women and children roast maize and coffee beans on the roadside. It was 4 hours of bumpy roads winding up and down the mountains on impossibly steep and slippery roads – but late that night, we made it to Semuc Champey.
11-15: Semuc Champey’s unique geological structure and stunning blue waters make it seem like its in some elven kingdom. Each of the pools hold the purest blue water, so fresh and clean. We felt at ease swimming with our eyes open. Little fish nibbled at us, sometimes a bit too intensely. We met stray puppies in need of some cuddles.
As we were leaving, a little boy, maybe 9 years old approached us and offered Matt a beer as we waited. We chuckled and told him no thanks. Lucky for the boy, there was a truck full of thirsty American tourists just behind us. We could hear them being won over by the boy’s entrepreneurial spirit. “He’s a hustlin’ kid, I respect the hustle!”
To be continued!
ft. @mattjmayes
Seashell kids navigating a year of growth marked by time in the mountains and by the sea, major successes for Sway, meeting idols, feasts with friends, a new puppy, and an incredible amount of community building. So very thankful for the beautiful people who keep me afloat 🤍🐚 #2024
Part II: About 5 years ago, Matt and I set out on our Panamerica trip. Here’s glimpses of the first month on the road, which we spent traveling from Berkeley down to Baja, across the sea to mainland Mexico, all the way to the Yucatán peninsula.
1-2 – Somewhere in the jungle around Veracruz, dipping in a pool all to ourselves. The road to these falls was lined with citrus trees. We camped in a very damp part of the jungle that was filled with spiders 🌴🕷️
3 – More biodesign inspiration. Loved learning about how the Mayans and Aztecs used agave fibers to weave footwear, rope, netting, blankets, baskets, and tapestries.
4-5 – Views from inside the cenotes in the Yucatán Peninsula. Matt was committed to diving to the bottom of each one we visited 🤿
6-8 – Nearing the Belizean border, we totally fell in love with Bacalar. Gemlike turquoise waters bordered by jungle. We felt like children playing in the shallow waters. The most peaceful, lovely conclusion to our time in Mexico 💧
Then onward, to Belize!
Part I: About 5 years ago, Matt and I set out on our Panamerica trip. Here’s glimpses of the first month on the road, which we spent traveling from Berkeley down to Baja, across the sea to mainland Mexico, all the way to the Yucatán peninsula.
1 – A view from our rooftop tent of the sparkling Sea of Cortez💧
2 – The moment we crossed the border from San Diego into Tijuana, all seemed to go wrong. The rig broke down. We spent our first night parked in the mechanic’s lot listening to the street dogs howling and wondering if we’d even make it down the coast of Baja. But the amazing guys at Willy’s saved the day!! 🖤
3 – Back on the road. Totally charmed by the valleys of 30-foot-tall cactus that stretch on for miles.
4 – Along the way, we sought to visit seaweed farms – including this land-based aquaculture operation in Erendria. Learned so much about the needs of farmers.
5-7 – Most nights in Baja were spent right up on the water. We were just getting accustomed to life on the road, learning how to find the best places to camp on our way south. Making friends with stray pups, collecting shells. From the kitchen we built into the back of the Trooper, Matt cooked us the best meals. Especially having just finished grad school, we both felt totally free.
8 – On the ferry from Baja to mainland Mexico, Matt wasn’t feeling too hot. 13 hours spent on tempestuous seas 🫠
9-10 – Highlights from Sayulita were of course all the colorful flags…And witnessing the moment a troop of brave baby turtles happened to be making their big migration from nest into the ocean 🐢
11 – Prior to building Sway, Matt and I sought out many other entrepreneurs leading with biomaterials design. The first we met were the folks at Deserto, who make leather from cactus in Guadalajara!
12-13 – Atop the pyramids of Teotihuacan, watching the hot air balloons drift by 🌞
Founders retreat at Occidental Arts & Ecology Center. An earthly paradise in northern California. We learned about the principles of permaculture, working in harmony with the environment. Painted using materials found in the forest. Meals from the garden. Stories shared around the fire. Much love to Designer Fund, and to @the_oaec , for the nourishment 🍒🌞🌿
