Original Blog Post: Heroes of the sea! 5 shops who save our seas with merchandise - The Spreadshop Blog
To the extent of a dramatic hero’s fall, turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, fish eat plastic particles instead of plankton, and seals get caught in plastic. It is clear that we need to turn around our bad plastic habits, and we need to do it now. There are 5 hero shops that have long since recognized this. Their Spreadshops offer merchandise to save the seas and make a change by earning money to finance their work.
Their Spreadshops appear in straight marine colors, and their designs help draw even more attention to the issue that is ever so important. Get inspired to use your Spreadshop for your own project!
Marine Mammals of Maine – marine wildlife conservation
Marine Mammals of Maine, or MMoME, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection, rescue, care, research, and education of marine mammals and sea turtles. It rescues marine wildlife along Maine’s approximately 2,500-mile-long coastline. The problem is that thousands of live and dead marine mammals and sea turtles become stranded there each year. Not only does MMoME provide short-term relief, but – as a federal organization authorized to perform long-term rehabilitation – it benefits the animals on the long run.
On Facebook and Instagram they use their reach, show their work, and educate. In doing so, MMoME aims to motivate responsible stewardship of the marine environment and promote marine conservation.
MMoME is financed almost exclusively by private donations. With its Spreadshop, the non-profit organization generates additional money, 100% of which is put to a good cause. In keeping with the sea, most of their designs are tinged in blue, and the seal is their recurring design.
MMoME helps in one of the busiest areas for stranded seals. The blue “Fish Freezer Fundraiser” design, for example, shows a cute seal snacking on a fish. Fun fact: the design is also available on a sustainable coffee mug that avoids producing more plastic.
The “Seaglass Series Sea Turtle” design features small sea glass shards in the shape of a sea turtle. The blue and green glass stones are becoming increasingly rare and make the design very special.
Biru Biru – an ocean store for marine conservation
Behind Biru Biru are Melissa and Yvonne, two women who have great love for the sea. They have set out to protect what they love by generating funds, offering bracelets, notebooks, necklaces, and much more in their online shop. All proceeds go directly to marine conservation projects supporting coral gardening (planting of coral seedlings grown in a laboratory), education or NGOs that promote ocean knowledge, and beach clean-ups. On Instagram and Facebook, the two show their sustainable products and the reality in our oceans. They also support other brands and people whose goal it is to protect our oceans.
In their Biru Biru Spreadshop, you can find merch for ocean lovers, travelers, and surfers. All designs have a clear reference to the ocean. The minimalistic white tote bag with blue waves and the signature “OCEAN IS CALLING” mantra is both stylish and helps avoiding plastic and paper bags.
With the snapback cap “We belong to the sea”, Yvonne and Melissa express their love for the sea, offer practical sun protection and give people the opportunity to do something for marine conservation. Even if you otherwise wouldn’t know how to get involved, the Spreadshop gives you a chance to do good and get a nice item in return.
Defend The Ocean – sustainable merch from Germany
Making the protection of our oceans and marine topical – that’s Defend The Ocean’s goal. Their work is all about motivating people everywhere to spread the word about the relevance of environmental and animal protection in our oceans. It concerns all of us to make a clear statement against the use of plastic and against the pollution of our oceans.
The merch in the Defend The Ocean Spreadshop is perfect to achieve just that. All products are printed on products by Stanley/Stella and EarthPositive, meaning they are produced under the highest environmental and social standards. Many of the designs are dedicated to a marine animal. The “Defend the Whale” design, for example, calls for whales to be saved. Simply kept in blue, it shows the different whale species and comes out particularly well on white shirts.
The seahorse also has its own design. The accompanying slogan “Small actions, big impact” encourages to take action.
Madagascar Volunteer – an experience in paradise
As the name suggests, Madagascar Volunteer offer volunteer programs in Madagascar. The aim is to protect the environment, promote research and conservation projects, and educate the local people. The paradise-like landscape there unfortunately doesn’t mean that the marine animals are in less need of protection: on the contrary, especially the turtles are in dire need of help.
You can take a look at the projects on Instagram and YouTube or directly support the work at Madagascar Volunteer Spreadshop.
Their simple design “DO IT FOR CAUSE NOT FOR APPLAUSE” says it all: it’s about the cause, the environment, the animals, and oceans – and not about drawing attention to yourself. The red cup expresses this notion particularly strongly.
The white shirt with the “Volunteer in Paradise” lettering is perfect for all volunteers, and it also offers a great way to make others aware of their opportunity to help in Paradise.
Ocean Conservation Namibia – seals and marine wildlife
The original goal of Naude and Katja Dreyer, founder of Ocean Conservation Namibia, was to help entangled seals and other marine animals along the Namibian coast. Meanwhile, Ocean Conservation Namibia – or OCN – is also about outreach and education around plastic pollution in the oceans. The goal is to motivate people around the world to reflect on their own behavior for a better and more sustainable future. OCN is self-sufficient and receives no government support. All their actions and measures are financed by private donations from all over the world, and their merchandise. On Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook you’ll find many insights into their work.
The OCN-Spreadshop is super important to help the marine animals further – because OCN needs money for their rescue and education actions. In the Shop, supporters can find simple merch with the OCN logo, e.g. the snapback cap.
The “Smiling Seal” design shows a cute seal, referencing OCN’s core efforts. The cute design is even available for the smallest among us on a baby bodysuit.
Need money for your project? Want to make people aware of an issue and help our oceans? Then a free Spreadshop is just the thing for you. Start with your logo or create a few individual designs in ocean colors – and you’re ready to go.