How every purchase funds real ocean plastic recovery
Every order funds verified plastic waste collection through our partner CleanHub — tracked from collection to final disposal, in coastal communities that never had waste infrastructure to begin with.
Every Oceans Gallery order funds verified plastic waste collection through CleanHub — a TÜV SÜD-certified recovery system operating in coastal communities across India, Indonesia, Tanzania, and Guatemala. The plastic is tracked from collection to final disposal, and the work creates fair-paying jobs in the communities most affected by ocean pollution.
Here's exactly how it works, and why we chose this partner over a simple "tree planted" or vague offset claim.
The problem CleanHub was built to solve
Plastic pollution isn't primarily a recycling problem — it's an access problem. Over 2 billion people worldwide live without any form of waste collection service. When there's no bin, no truck, and no system, plastic doesn't get sorted or landfilled — it gets burned or dumped directly into rivers and coastlines, where it eventually reaches the ocean.
That's the gap CleanHub fills. Rather than funding cleanup after plastic has already reached the water, CleanHub builds waste collection infrastructure at the source — in coastal towns and river communities that never had it in the first place.
What actually happens to the plastic
- Collection. Local teams run door-to-door collection, plus targeted beach and riverbank cleanups, in coastal hotspots across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
- Sorting. Collected waste is separated. Anything recyclable gets reused. Material that can't be recycled is processed as an alternative fuel source in cement production, replacing coal and gas — instead of being burned in the open or left to leak into waterways.
- Recovery verification. Every kilogram is logged through CleanHub's Eddy app, using photos, GPS data, and weight checks at each step. The full chain is independently audited.
This last point is what separates CleanHub from a standard offset program: it's the first plastic credit system verified by TÜV SÜD under the ISO 14064-3 standard, and CleanHub is also a certified B Corp. That means the "1kg collected" figure attached to an order isn't a marketing estimate — it's a number that's been checked by an outside auditor.
The numbers, as of today
That's over 13 million kilograms collected since 2020, with 2025 on pace to be one of the highest-volume years yet. CleanHub currently partners with a network of 500+ brands funding this work.
It's not just about plastic — it's about who's doing the collecting
The environmental side of this partnership is only half the story. CleanHub's model is built around creating safe, dignified jobs with fair pay — specifically in communities where that kind of formal employment didn't exist before.
A few examples directly from CleanHub's active projects:
Over 300 women employed through the local collection partnership, with more than 1.5 million kg of plastic collected to date.
The program works alongside more than 3,000 local fishermen, recovering plastic directly from the sea while also running school education programs on waste management.
A small team of local women runs weekly door-to-door collection, pulling an average of two tonnes of household waste out of the community every month — waste that would otherwise be burned or dumped straight into the Indian Ocean.
This is the part that doesn't show up in a "kg collected" counter: the same programs that keep plastic out of the water are also building long-term, local income in places where the plastic crisis and the jobs crisis are the same problem.
Why we chose CleanHub specifically
There's no shortage of ocean-plastic marketing in fashion right now. What made CleanHub the right partner for Oceans Gallery came down to three things:
- Independent verification — TÜV SÜD certification and B Corp status mean the impact claims are checked by a third party, not just self-reported.
- Source-level prevention — Funding collection infrastructure in communities that never had it, rather than paying for cleanup after plastic has already reached open water.
- Transparent tracking — Every kilogram is logged and auditable, not bundled into a vague annual sustainability report.
Common questions
What this means when you buy from us
Every order contributes to this system. It's not a donation bolted onto checkout — it's a direct funding line to verified collection work, tracked the same way for every brand in CleanHub's network.
We'll continue sharing CleanHub's updated numbers as they're released, because a real number that changes is worth more than a static claim on a product page.
CleanHub live dashboard (cleanhub.com/live-dashboard) · CleanHub Our Impact page · CleanHub project pages for Clean Chemnad and Clean Pondicherry. Figures current as of publication.
