About POP
During the 2000 Formula Windsurfing World Championship in Thailand, riders catapulted as their fins hit floating plastic bags. Following this the Starboard crew began running regular beach cleans at the local test centre.
After 16 years of collections Starboard launched the official Plastic Offset Program in 2017. The program now supports 4 teams of almost 200 collectors in Thailand in Myanmar and has collected over 900,000 KG of plastic from the tidelines!
Plastic Offset Program (POP) - Starboard's Actions to Limit Our Environmental Impact
Education & Livelihoods support
The Plastic Offset Program is about more than just cleaning beaches, it is about ensuring that they stay clean. By providing environmental education to schools and livelihood support to local people we can empower them to reduce their use of plastics and protect their environment.
Over the past 2 years the Plastic Offset Program has hosted environmental education sessions for more than 1500 children. Teaching them about climate change, plastic pollution, recycling and biodiversity among many other topics. During the same time period the teams have also provided more than 50 hours of livelihood training, running workshops for members of the community creating natural fertilizers from food waste, upcycling household waste, repairing fishing nets and hygienically preserving fresh foods to store and sell.
VERRA Verification and Plastic Credits
In 2021, The Plastic Offset Program became the first organisation approached by VERRA to become verified under their Plastic Waste Reduction Standard. VERRA is a non-profit organisation that develops and manages standards for sustainable development, climate action, and responsible business practices. Their certification represents the ‘gold stamp’ for environmental initiatives.
From 2024, we will have verified plastic credits available to offset your plastic usage.
What are plastic credits?
Plastic credit represents one tonne of plastic which has been recycled or collected to stop it from otherwise entering the environment. They offer anyone a tangible way of tackling the plastic pollution crisis. Here’s 3 things you should know about them:
- They allow companies to make investments into genuine and effective action for meaningful impact.
- Plastic credits are only issued based on rigorous assessments and reflect quality assurance principles to ensure transparency and integrity.
- The credits fund long-term, sustainable sustainable supports for plastic waste management infrastructure.
Get in Touch
If you have any feedback, suggestions or grievances that you would like to share with our pop team, please get in touch via one of our feedback forms below:
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