E11: Turning Your Passion into a Sustainable Business with Rob Thompson

Rob Thompson got creative with ocean waste and turned it into kayaks amount other things.

Rob is a scuba diver who was fed up with finding idyllic coves in Cornwall full of plastic rubbish so decided to do something about it.  

After rallying friends together, diving remote spots and debriefing on a cliff top around a camp fire, Fathoms Free was born.  Regular dives against debris ensued but Rob was still not satisfied as the rubbish they collected was still going into landfill.

Most people would have stopped at that point but after years of research, networking and hard graft, Rob has created the world's first ever marine recycled kayaks from a new material he calls Gyre 2. 

Rob had no background in materials, product development or indeed business and he shares his journey and advice on following your passion to create a sustainable business.

You can find more about the Marine Recycled Kayaks, Handplanes and other products on the Odyssey Innovation website.  There you will also find information about the Paddle For Plastic Campaign and the Ocean Recovery net collection campaign.

Other mentions:

Project Aware

Neptune's Army of Rubbish Cleaners

Sea Shepherd Ghost Net Campaign

Global Ghost Gear Initiative

 

This podcast was edited by Chloe Aust and marketing contributions by Megan Youngs. More about the team here.

Clare Talks Rubbish is a podcast brought to you by Clare Talks, a Coach and Ocean Advocate.  We are on a mission to inspire you to break outside the status quo, to create a wave of change.  We want to inspire and help change makers, leaders and every day heroes.  We love supporting and connecting people so do get in touch if you think we can be of assistance.

Helping you to clear out the rubbish and create space for boundless opportunities!