Miles Fetherston-Resch isn’t your average 6-year-old. While most kids his age are playing video games or learning to ride a bike, the St. Petersburg first grader is busy saving our oceans, one piece of plastic at a time.
Miles, Founder and CEO of Kids Saving Oceans, has always loved the water, but Shark Week 2018 turned his interest into activism. After that week and long discussions with his parents Jess and Libby Fetherston-Resch about the future of our oceans and its inhabitants, Miles decided to donate all of his saved weekly allowance to a worthy cause.
“I wanted to send $13 to an organization,” explains Miles, “but that wouldn’t get that far.”
So the family, with Miles working as the “Ideas Guy,” came up with a more effective plan and founded Kids Saving Oceans, “the first conversation lifestyle brand for kids (and adult allies), by kids.” The brand currently offers signature marine-themed designs on t-shirts and hats made from recycled ocean plastics in addition to stickers and reusable straws, with plans for sunglasses and reusable water bottles in the future.
For every item sold, Kids Saving Oceans gives money to a nonprofit organization working to protect our waters and surrounding ecosystems including The Surfrider Foundation, The World Wildlife Federation – Oceans, and others.
Though this sounds like a lot of work for a 6-year-old, Miles enjoys it. He spends his time after school reading and coming up with different ways to save ocean creatures or clean up beaches. “Miles is happiest when he’s cleaning up trash,” Jess says.
But how exactly does one person’s trash become another person’s treasure, or in this case, t-shirt? According to Jess, the brand sources their fabric from an outside company that collects the plastic from the ocean. The shirts and hats end up being made of 65% recycled ocean plastic and the rest from cotton scraps left over from manufacturing other clothing.
Kids Saving Oceans also uses environmentally-friendly waterbased inks in all designs and recycled packaging for shipping. “What’s under the logo is every bit as important as the message contained within it,” the Kids Saving Ocean website states.
If you and your family would like to join in the fight against ocean plastic pollution this Earth Day and beyond, here are some tips and information from the Fetherston-Resch family.
A staggering 91% of plastic isn’t recycled, and the majority of plastics can only be recycled one time. Therefore, it’s critical to reduce plastic consumption and choose sustainable options. Recycling alone won’t solve our plastic problems, so here are a few ideas to reduce plastic use at home:
1. Instead of plastic bags or wrap for food, think about reusable containers made from glass or steel. Or, consider paper sandwich bags and reusable beeswax wraps.
2. Say no to plastic straws and cutlery — you can always use your own reusable options. Especially when getting takeout!
3. Periodically do a trash and recycling inventory and find one thing you can replace with a reusable or compostable option. For example, if you use a lot of plastic grocery bags, buy a set of reusable produce bags to go with your other reusable bags.
4. Talk to your school and businesses you frequent about implementing alternatives to single-use items.
For more information about Kids Saving Oceans, visitkidssavingoceans.com or follow them on Facebook (@kidssavingoceans) or Instagram (@kids_saving_oceans).
