There’s seven million square kilometres of seaweed already growing around the world — about the same size as the Amazon rainforest. But contrary to trees, seaweed doesn’t require land, fresh water or fertiliser to grow, and does so 20-30 times faster than land-based agriculture. [Sway CEO Julia Marsh] might be seaweed’s biggest groupie, and it’s hard to argue with her. This runny, sticky algae is wild. It increases biodiversity, sucks up carbon for lunch, and balances the ocean’s water chemistry.
Sway wants to add something else to seaweed’s CV: obliterating the need for plastic packaging.
Today, Sway’s larger system means that their seaweed packaging will biodegrade in four to six weeks. Cleverly, the product still has a 12-month shelf life.
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The World Bank has projected that seaweed could create 100 million jobs in the blue economy, for its food production alone. Replacing plastic packaging adds another string to that bow of possibility. Julia has travelled the world to partner with seaweed farmers and develop ethical scaling models that could offer them create climate resilient employment.
