Calling for a Seaweed Revolution

As #PlasticsFreeJuly draws to a close, our quest for sustainable alternatives to plastic continues. That's why we've brought together Emy Kane, Managing Director of our NGO partner Lonely Whale , and Julia Marsh, CEO and Co-Founder of Sway , a company pioneering seaweed-based sustainable packaging. In this conversation, they share insights on breaking free from plastic dependence. Emy and Julia have also collaborated on a new documentary, Seaweed Stories, highlighting the potential of seaweed as a viable solution.

How did you [Julia] become involved in material design/innovation? Why did you focus on thin-film plastic?

As a brand and packaging designer prior to founding Sway, I often found myself bringing “beautiful trash” to the world.?

I began a quest to find truly better alternatives, which led me to learning about regeneration and circularity – theoretical frameworks that can be applied to packaging.

Materials could be sourced in a way that nurtures ecosystems as the feedstocks grow, actively improving the supply chain they entered, and returning to the earth after use.

But these packaging materials didn’t quite exist yet, at least at a commercial scale.

Despite my non-engineering background, seaweed caught my attention as the most promising potential source material to change this.?

I was raised in the Monterey Bay area, USA, where I grew up very familiar with underwater forests and ocean ecosystems. Seaweed is beautiful, diverse, and abundant.?

It grows incredibly quickly, without the need for freshwater, arable land, or chemical inputs, and is available on nearly every coastline in the world.?

And thanks to its abundance of natural polymers, it’s stretchy, flexible, and durable – making it an ideal feedstock to replace plastics.

As our vision for Sway began to crystalize, my co-founder Matt and I visited farms and met with scientists and seaweed cultivators around the world, even driving the pan-American highway from California to Peru. We witnessed firsthand how seaweed farms can naturally improve water chemistry, boost biodiversity, and support healthy coastal communities. Seaweed is the most promising source to support a material revolution – and that’s why we started Sway.

Is the industry ready to invest in sustainable alternatives for mass-scale production??

The plastic industry is massive, with nearly 180 billion thin-film plastic polybags used annually by the fashion industry alone. The production of plastics is highly efficient. For a solution to fully disrupt this industry, it needs to be comparable across scale, cost, and performance for brands and manufacturers alike.

Currently, 83% of brands use flexible plastic packaging, with the industry valued at 65.85 billion . These materials are made from oil, virtually impossible to recycle, and cannot always be replaced with reusable or recyclable solutions. Corn, potato, sugarcane, and even wood-based plastic alternatives are already commercially available and widely adopted. Yet, many come with their own unique challenges.

Fortunately, winning the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Prize generated excitement and trust among manufacturers and brands eager for sustainable packaging solutions.

The Prize enabled us to vet our seaweed-based materials with big-name brands like J.Crew and Herman Miller for early adoption testing.? As well as our collaboration with Florence, the outdoor gear brand founded by World Surf Champion John John Florence. This partnership features Sway’s home compostable seaweed material for a limited edition board short. The board shorts sold out within 24 hours, received thousands of likes and comments on social media, and were featured in Surfer Magazine.

Another example is our partnership with Burton Materials Testing? prototyping a protective snowboard wrap to replace problematic industry films, which we debuted at World Oceans Week in New York.

How does storytelling play a role in your work? What was it like being filmed for Seaweed Stories and what do you hope results from your inclusion within the documentary?

In order to support a future where seaweed materials become a normal part of life, people have to see them!?

Documentaries like Seaweed Stories created by Lonely Whale,? serve as a brilliant opportunity for us to support in painting an inviting and accessible vision of the future, where materials sourced from the ocean are real, tangible, and already scaling! With this film going out to audiences everywhere, we’re so grateful to be included. More people will be able to see the potential of seaweed, and that’s critical – because to change everything, we need everyone.?

Does plastic still show up in your daily life? Would you suggest to others any best practices, products, resources, apps etc. to help reduce plastic in their daily lives?

Unfortunately yes – this ubiquitous material is unavoidable even for the most conscious of environmentalists - and unfortunately, they’re only becoming more prominent.?

In my day-to-day, we shop local, ethical, and second-hand as often as possible (shoutout to the apps Beni , Beaker , and Commons who make conscious shopping a breeze!). We reuse bags and bottles and yogurt tubs whenever possible. We choose package-free products whenever possible, and paper and aluminum packaging when necessary.?

Being “sustainable” in everyday life can be daunting, but it's better to be an imperfect environmentalist than not try at all.

I think we’re at the pinnacle of some truly incredible innovations that will make circular, regenerative, and ethical consumption much more accessible moving forward. From food to fabric to materials, the philosophies and feedstocks of the future are slowly but surely changing the norms. The future is bright with solutions.