The Story Behind Our Bubbles
At Rockadi we have a love of the sea and we’ve been lucky enough to snorkel and dive on many of our ocean’s amazing reefs. We’ve also seen the damage that can be caused by people and witnessed bleaching events from changes in the balance of nature.
Everyone knows that increased CO2 levels are contributing to global warming and that climate change is having an effect on our planet.
But do we know what that means for our oceans and reefs?
And do we really know what it could mean for us?
Here are the facts…
Our oceans cover 70% of the planet, they are where you will find 80% of all Earth’s creatures, and they are responsible for between 50%-85% of the oxygen we breathe.
Coral reefs occupy less than 1% of the ocean floor, but they are home to an incredible 25-30% of all marine life and are even more biodiverse than the rainforests.
That makes our reefs critical ecosystems where fish and other organisms shelter, find food, reproduce and rear their young. They also protect coastlines from storm surges and tsunamis, provide protection, food, and livelihoods for about 1 billion people, and generate roughly $30 billion for our global economy each year.
Here’s the problem…
Most of our established reefs are between 5,000 – 10,000 years old. But up to 60% have died since the start of the industrial revolution.
That’s in the last 200 years.
Because of global warming, our oceans are heating up, losing oxygen, and absorbing more CO2, becoming increasingly acidic.
Reefs are very fragile ecosystems. Even a slight increase in water temperature or acidity, contact with plastic waste, or damage caused by careless tourists, can have a devastating impact on these habitats and the life they support.
As a result of this, as much as 50% of our coral reefs have died in only the past 20 years and it is estimated that at this rate more than 90% are expected to die by 2050.
That’s in less than 30 years.
The real problem is that without our reefs, coastlines would be left unprotected, tourism would be impacted, local economies would shrink, the depletion of fish stocks would mean losing one of our major food sources, and with the natural balance of our oceans upset there will also be less oxygen for us to breathe.
Inspirational bubbles.
There’s a study that Stanford research scientists did in 2016 which showed that one way to protect our corals is to blow tiny bubbles over the reefs to transfer CO2 back to the atmosphere and reduce the acidity in the water around them.
The study was performed under lab conditions and a real-world solution would be an enormous undertaking, plus it wouldn’t do anything to stop the cause, but we still took it as inspiration here at Rockadi and looked at how we could have an impact by making bubbles of our own.
Our bubbles mean change.
The fast fashion industry is a major contributor to environmental pollution. And our continued buying habits could see it accounting for more than a quarter of the world’s carbon budget by 2050.
So by using recycled materials that use less energy and create less harmful emissions in production, by reducing the distances materials travel during manufacture, by keeping fashion slow and not overproducing and filling methane-producing landfills, or CO2-pumping incinerators, with unsold stock, by switching to plastic-free packaging, and offering carbon-neutral shipping, we hope to show that the fashion industry really can reduce its impact on the environment.
Help us turn the tide.
With our approach and the positive action of our chosen charities, every one of our Ocean Bubbles Collection pieces will contribute to the protection of our oceans and our reefs. So by supporting sustainable fashion, you really can help us make bubbles for the ocean.
