Making Events Better for All: The Journey to Compostable Cups
Release Date: 07/19/2024
How to Read the Seafood Counter Like a Marine Biologist
How To Protect The Ocean
Picture a big sign over the seafood counter promising sustainable fishing, with a fish every independent guide says to avoid sitting on ice right below it. In most countries nobody broke a rule, because the word "sustainable" on seafood has no legal definition. In this final episode of our sustainable seafood week, Andrew Lewin walks you through how to see past that sign and choose seafood you can feel good about. You'll learn how to use the eco-labels and seafood guides that have already done the research for you, including the Marine Stewardship Council's blue tick for wild seafood, the...
info_outline
Is Bottom Trawling Always Bad? It Depends Where
How To Protect The Ocean
Off the south coast of England, about 100 kilometres out, sits Haig Fras, a granite reef covered in jewel anemones and cup corals. For years it was protected on paper, yet heavy fishing gear could still drag across it. In March 2024, that finally changed. In this episode, Andrew Lewin explains why where we fish matters as much as how much we fish, and what it takes to turn a line on a map into real protection. Andrew breaks down the difference between midwater and bottom trawls and puts the damage shown in the recent Ocean documentary into context. Bottom trawling lands about a quarter of the...
info_outline
The Trapdoor That Saves Sea Turtles From Shrimp Nets
How To Protect The Ocean
A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, the most endangered sea turtle on Earth, gets swept into a shrimp trawl. It hits a metal grid, slides out through a flap in the net, and swims away. That small trapdoor, the turtle excluder device, is one of the biggest success stories in fisheries management, and in late August 2026 a US federal appeals court upheld the rule extending it to skimmer trawl boats 40 feet and longer. In this episode, marine biologist Andrew Lewin walks through the bycatch fixes that are working and the fights still underway. You’ll hear why North Atlantic right whales get tangled...
info_outline
The Cod Came Back: What a Fishery Collapse Teaches Us About Overfishing
How To Protect The Ocean
Five centuries ago, explorers off Newfoundland described cod so plentiful that a weighted basket lowered into the sea came back full. By July 2, 1992, so few remained that Canada shut the northern cod fishery overnight. About 30,000 people lost their work in what became the largest single layoff in Canadian history. In this first episode of a week-long sustainable seafood series, Andrew tells the story of how the collapse happened and how slowly the cod came back. Andrew then breaks down the words that cause the most confusion in fisheries headlines: overfishing, overfished, depleted, and...
info_outline
How to Choose Sustainable Seafood
How To Protect The Ocean
You want to eat seafood the right way. Then you hit the seafood counter and face a wall of labels, a sign promising “sustainable practices,” and an employee who has no idea where the tuna came from. Add documentaries like Seaspiracy telling you to quit fish entirely, and it’s tempting to give up and buy whatever looks good. Unsustainable fishing is the biggest threat to marine biodiversity, so those choices carry real weight. In this episode, Andrew’s good friend Dr. David Shiffman joins the show to talk about his new book, Why Sustainable Seafood Matters. David spent two years on the...
info_outline
Slow Down for Whales: How Global Shipping Learned to Share the Ocean
How To Protect The Ocean
Blue whales can’t dodge ships. When scientists tracked blue whales alongside cargo ships off Southern California, the whales responded in just over half the encounters, and every response was the same: a slow, shallow dive. Not once did a whale move sideways out of the ship’s path. Models suggest ships kill around 18 blue whales a year off the U.S. West Coast, nearly eight times what the population can lose and still recover. The good news is in the data. Most blue whale strike deaths happen in a small slice of ocean, and that’s where ports, air quality agencies, marine sanctuaries, and...
info_outline
When Whale Food Moves: Climate Change, Crab Traps, and Pop-Up Gear
How To Protect The Ocean
In 2014, a patch of unusually warm water nicknamed "the blob" settled off the west coast of North America. The cold, food-rich water that normally stretches far offshore shrank into a narrow strip along the coast, and hungry humpback whales followed their food straight into the waters where Dungeness crabbers had set thousands of traps, each tied to a vertical rope. Entanglements jumped from about 10 a year to 53 in 2015 and 55 in 2016. In this episode, Andrew traces the line from warmer water to a specific whale in a specific rope. You'll learn why lunge-feeding whales depend on dense patches...
info_outline
The Whale Heart That Beats Twice a Minute
How To Protect The Ocean
Fill your hands with cold water, hold your breath, and press your face in. Your heart slows within seconds. That reflex lives in every whale in the ocean too, and in a blue whale it is pushed so far that the largest heart on Earth can drop to two beats a minute on a deep dive. In this episode, Andrew walks through the first heart rate recording from a wild blue whale, led by Jeremy Goldbogen's team at Stanford, and a study by Terrie Williams of UC Santa Cruz that tracked narwhals fleeing after release from nets in East Greenland. The narwhals swam as hard as they could while their hearts fell...
info_outline
The Biggest Mouthful: How Blue Whales Eat and Why Krill Matters
How To Protect The Ocean
A blue whale can swallow a volume of water bigger than its own body in a single gulp. That move, called lunge feeding, is one of the most extreme feats in the animal kingdom, and it only pays off when krill is packed into thick, dense swarms. In a thin patch, a blue whale gets back about six times the energy it spent. In a dense swarm, it gets back more than 200 times. In this first episode of the Age of Giants series, Andrew breaks down how rorqual whales feed, then follows the krill. In 2025, the Antarctic krill fishery hit its 620,000 tonne precautionary limit for the first time and closed...
info_outline
Whales Are Sprinters: What a Blue Whale's Heart Does When It Lunge Feeds
How To Protect The Ocean
What happens to the heart of the largest animal on Earth when it charges into a swarm of krill? Dr. Ashley Blawas, a postdoctoral scholar in Jeremy Goldbogen's lab at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station, joins Andrew to unpack new research published in PNAS that measured the heart rates of lunge-feeding blue whales and humpback whales using suction-cup ECG tags. Ashley explains the three phases of lunge feeding (accelerate, engulf, filter) and why these giants behave a lot like human sprinters. Their heart rates stay high after each lunge, then gradually recover while they glide and filter,...
info_outlineOn this episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast, Reagan Kelly from Better for All discusses the journey to creating fully compostable cups. Discover how these cups are not only better for individuals but also for the environment. Learn about the impact on sustainability and the future of businesses. Join us for an insightful conversation on sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic cups.
Website: https://betterforall.shop/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterforall_co/
Sign Up for Updates on the process: www.speakupforblue.com/oceanapp
Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc
YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
Better For All is a company that offers fully compostable cups as a sustainable alternative to single-use plastic cups. The journey to creating these cups began in 2018 when the family-owned company became aware of the plastic pollution issue, particularly in the ocean. Reagan Kelly, the product lead at Better For All, was passionate about the environment and recycling, which led the family to explore the world of compostable and plant-based materials.
The company focused on developing cups that were not only compostable but also marine-degradable, addressing the concern of plastic waste ending up in the ocean. The cups are made from a material called PHA, which is naturally occurring and biodegrades safely in home composters or commercial composters. This material is friendly to a wide range of microorganisms, making it an environmentally friendly choice.
Better For All's cups were put to the test at the Tortuga Festival in Florida, where they delivered 170,000 cups. The festival organizers were impressed by the unique look of the cups, which helped in sorting them out for composting. The cups received positive feedback from attendees, showcasing the potential for sustainable alternatives at large events.
The company's focus on innovation and dedication to creating environmentally friendly products has led to the development of various cup sizes, catering to different needs and applications. The cups are not only functional but also contribute to reducing the environmental footprint of events and businesses that choose to use them.
Overall, Better For All's commitment to sustainability and providing a viable alternative to single-use plastic cups demonstrates the importance of conscious consumer choices and the impact of innovative solutions in reducing plastic pollution.
During the journey to develop the compostable cups, significant challenges in manufacturing were encountered. Traditional methods and equipment geared towards working with plastic had to be reevaluated and changed to align with the new sustainable material. The manufacturing process had to be modified to accommodate the unique properties of the compostable material, requiring a shift in mindset and practices.
Securing adequate funding was another major hurdle in the development process. Developing a new product like compostable cups required substantial financial investment for research, development, testing, and scaling up production. Convincing investors of the viability and potential success of the product was crucial, necessitating a strong business case and a clear vision for the future.
Overcoming the challenge of buy-in from manufacturers, customers, and investors was a critical aspect of the journey. Manufacturers had to be convinced to adopt new processes and materials, customers needed to be educated about the benefits of using compostable cups, and investors had to see the potential for a return on their investment. Convincing all stakeholders of the value and importance of the compostable cups was a key challenge that had to be overcome.
Better For All is not only focused on providing fully compostable cups but is also looking to expand its product line to include other sustainable items. Regan Kelly mentioned in a podcast episode that they are considering developing water bags as a potential new product. These water bags would serve as an alternative to single-use plastic bags commonly used for beverages in certain regions, especially in Africa.
Introducing water bags aligns with the company's mission to make events and gatherings better for all. By offering sustainable alternatives like water bags, Better For All aims to reduce the environmental impact of single-use plastics and provide a more eco-friendly option for consumers. The company's focus on creating products that are sustainable and practical for everyday use demonstrates their commitment to promoting environmental consciousness in various settings.
Expanding the product line to include water bags would cater to a different market segment and contribute to reducing plastic waste in different contexts. By introducing innovative and sustainable solutions like water bags, Better For All continues to prioritize sustainability and aims to make a positive impact on the environment while enhancing the overall experience of events and gatherings.