Today on World Oceans Day, YUYU Bottle has pledged its allegiance to the Big Plastic Pledge (BPP), a movement dedicated to eradicating the use of single-use plastic in sport.
The BPP was founded by Hannah Mills MBE, Olympic gold & silver medallist and two time world champion, who not only believes that we can help change the fate of our planet through sport, as a sailor she has a special relationship with the ocean and has seen first-hand the devastation of plastic pollution in our oceans.
“Sailing has taken me all over the world and for almost two decades. I have noticed plastic in the oceans, mainly when it gets stuck under our boat and stops us dead in our tracks. But it didn’t resonate with me how bad the problem was getting until the Rio 2016 Olympic cycle.
…Every beach, marina and coastal area we visited during that four year period was affected and damaged beyond belief,” Mills said.
As we know, without the ocean, there would be no life. Not only does its currents help to stabilise global and local climates, transporting cold and heat across the Earth like a huge conveyor belt, they also act to cycle gases and provide nutrition for marine ecosystems.
But plastic is literally laminating our oceans and killing the marine life.
In 2018, a pilot whale found washed up on the beach in Thailand was found to have ingested 17 pounds of plastic in its stomach.
Plastic floating on the surface of the ocean is also a problem as it blocks out light reaching plankton and algae that require photosynthesis to reproduce. Whilst microplastics in the ocean are routinely eaten by fish and have ended up in the food chain and ultimately consumed by humans.
Speaking about the collaboration with YUYU Bottle, Mills said: “We are so excited the Big Plastic Pledge is collaborating with the amazing YuYu Bottle on World Oceans Day. Our values are completely aligned around sustainability, responsibility and partnership.
The YUYU Bottle is planet positive as all their bottles are made from natural, biodegradable rubber; purchased from ethically sourced locations from Sri Lanka and 50 cent (Euro) of every kilogram of rubber used goes to support local tappers & their families.
Along my journey of competing and training on the waters, I’ve used my YUYU Bottle to care for my aches and pains which has helped me a lot. I love how the bottle harnesses the power of water to warm, cool, and comfort our bodies.
We can’t wait for you to be able to show your support for the Big Plastic Pledge and the YUYU Bottle when we release our very own collaboration. YUYU has magically produced 300 exclusive Big Plastic Pledge-branded bottles and 25% of all the proceeds will go towards our work in safeguarding the world’s oceans which is amazing!”
Founder and CEO of YUYU Bottle, Richard Yu said:
“What better way to highlight World Oceans Day than with this wonderful partnership with the Big Plastic Pledge..
As a company that derives much of its product value from water, helping to warm and cool our bodies like the ocean, we understand the importance of protecting our waters. When Hannah shared with me what she was doing, I wanted to join in and help in any way that I could.
Like Hannah, I believe that small changes that we all individually make can lead to a big impact and at YUYU we wanted to be part of that movement. Follow us at @YUYUBottle @BigPlasticPledge to learn more.”
Mark Middlemas, CEO and founder of The Athlete Media Group added:
“When you pair powerful platforms for good like this, magic happens! The passion and creativity of Richard and his team coupled with Hannah’s mission and her Big Plastic Pledge athlete ambassadors makes this a collaboration right up there in planet positive terms.”
Notes for Editors:
Contact: marketing@yuyubottle.com
About YuYu Bottle
Over the last ten years YUYU Bottle’s mission has been to create a product that changes people’s perceptions of comfort and well-being. What started as a company being run in a living room in Wimbledon, the YUYU has grown to become an internationally loved self-care product and symbol of Health & Wellness, Sport & Leisure and Sustainability.
As humanity faces many challenges, we want to do our part in making the world a better place. Our ESG mission is to harness the power of the YUYU Bottle by creating awareness towards a more ecological way of living, one person and one company at a time.
About Big Plastic Pledge
https://bigplasticpledge.com/about/
The Big Plastic pledge has been founded by Hannah Mills, MBE, an Olympic gold and silver medallist, a sailor and an IOC sustainability ambassador. Seeing the devastation first hand of the damage of single use plastics in the Ocean as part of her sporting career was the catalyst to found the movement and over the past few years Hannah has set about, along with her team mate Eilidh Mcintyre, in trying to reduce the single use plastic.
With 1 person changing their habits, individually signalling to brands and policy makers our voice, the ripple effect can be huge. The actions you take matter and without you and the next person and the next, we are nothing. If a whole sporting community change their habits and shouts loudly, then we are flying! We can create a tidal wave of change that will be felt on every corner of the globe. This is the foundation for the Big Plastic Pledge.
Written by Paul Briggs