5 Minutes with Seastainable Co.’s Founder, Samantha Thian
Photo: Instagram/@seastainable.co
We caught up with the founder of Seastainable Co. and avid diver Samantha Thian to learn more about a “seastainable” lifestyle, her marine conservation efforts and why conscious buying is especially important in today’s world.
On how Seastainable Co. came about
“When I was with the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute in the Philippines, I witnessed the tremendous negative impact that poor trash management had on the environment. I swam through large patches of garbage during my data collection and my heart broke when I thought about how this could affect the helpless animals living in these once pristine waters. This inspired me to do my part in tackling waste management.
Later, when I became the president of National University of Singapore’s (NUS) recreational dive club, I focused on educating other members and participants about trash generation and waste management.
I also joined fellow like-minded youths in the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative camp and remained curious about how I could make a bigger impact on the community. When I was interning at Procter & Gamble, I suggested removing plastic straws for a corporate event. And at that moment, the idea of Seastainable Co. hit me.”
On why marine conservation is close to Seastainable Co.’s heart
“As a diver, I’ve always been concerned with the state of our marine environment. Divers are generally environmentally-conscious or are aware of humanity’s impact on the marine environment. This same concern led to the inception of Seastainable, and still one of the motivations to pursue this initiative.”
On how to live a “seastainable” lifestyle
“Firstly, consider switching your single-use products to reusable ones. You don’t need to rush and change everything into reusables at one go; start with using what you already have.
Next, after having your reusables, remember to bring the essentials like water bottles and cutlery to make use of them on-the-go. Lastly, try to cultivate conscious buying habits —Seastainable Co.’s Buyerarchy of Needs would be helpful.”
Photo: Instagram/@rags2richesinc
On Seastainable Co.’s products and how they can help in marine conservation
“Some of our products include the Seastainable straws, collapsible cups and bowls, as well as wheat box utensils set. We also have Mindful Totes and Conscious Towels which are made of 100 per cent recycled plastic (RPET fabric) and 80 per cent recycled polyesters, and 20 per cent nylon respectively.
We’ve partnered artisans like the Seally Hand Crocheted Marine Animals from Mabul Island, Malaysia, as well as R2R and Rags2Riches’ community of artisans from Cebu, Philippines.
50 per cent of our profits from the above items go towards marine conservation through our Seastainable Grant. The grants provides financial assistance to projects that help strengthen local communities in terms of sustainability and conservation — both locally and regionally. We support non-governmental organisations and grassroots initiatives too, so anyone is welcome to apply.”
On why conscious buying is the better way to shop
“We discourage our customers from buying our products if they don’t need them. This is because we need to be aware of the ecological costs that our products carry. Everything comes with an ecological cost due to the resources used to make the product.
This includes the extraction of nickel in the production of our metal straws, the energy required in manufacturing the products and the inevitable carbon footprint incurred during the entire process, including shipment.
As such, reusable items generally carry a higher ecological cost than single-use disposable products, and individuals must ensure the consistent use of their reusable products to ensure that the ecological cost of creating the product offsets the accumulated ecological cost of using disposables.
We don’t want our customers to buy multiple metal straws when they only need one. The other straws will only end up as waste. These items would have caused an ecological cost and they don’t serve any purpose in reducing the use of disposables.”
Photo: Instagram/@seastainable.co
On who we should be following on Instagram now
“We highly recommend you to check out our partners.
@savephseas is a non-stock, non-profit organisation that aims to conserve and protect the country’s coastal and marine resources through environmental education and community-based projects.
@bruwildofficial is a non-government organisation that strives to provide the best educational support to local schools, institutions, nature groups and wildlife enthusiasts. They also work closely with local authorities in biodiversity conservation, wildlife rescue and sustainable development.
@pongoranger_official promotes youth empowerment and environmental education especially for the wildlife in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia.”
By Hayden Ng.
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