A New Earth Project, a coalition of outdoor enthusiasts, industry-leading brands and innovative packaging suppliers, announced the launch of its global effort to create, scale, and advocate for sustainable packaging solutions to help eliminate plastic pollution from the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers.

A New Earth Project started as a conversation between surfers on the North Shore of Oahu and has grown into a robust movement to raise awareness of and find critical solutions to address the increasing levels of plastic pollution in global waterways. Supported by Atlantic Packaging, the largest privately held packaging company in North America, the initiative brings together the voices of ocean and water advocacy groups with brands and organizations in the supply chain equipped to bring solutions to the table to remediate the problems that exist today. With a team built by founder Wes Carter, president and third-generation leader of Atlantic Packaging, the initiative is supported by veterans from the surf, outdoor, media and packaging industries.

“The plastic pollution problem is personal for me. I've witnessed it in my own life and have only seen it get worse. After hearing well-known surfers share their personal stories of how they’ve observed the rise in plastic pollution in the oceans, there was a big moment when I realized a lot of the plastic waste was coming from packaging, a supply chain that I'm part of,” says Carter. “This was the catalyst for A New Earth Project and is at the heart of this strategic collaboration. Atlantic Packaging has a seat at the table with the largest consumer product companies in the world. We are in a unique position of having both the ability, and what I believe is the responsibility, to drive the changes that must occur.”

Drawing on Atlantic Packaging’s 75-year history in the global packaging supply chain, this initiative delivers real solutions through the introduction of the New Earth Approved catalog, a collection of products and capabilities adhering to key criteria, including: 100% curbside recyclable, made from renewable resources and not harmful to wildlife or ecosystems. The New Earth Approved catalog brings the purchasing power and delivery capabilities of Atlantic Packaging to businesses of all sizes. Partners may also tap into Atlantic Packaging’s award-winning Packaging Solution Center in Charlotte, NC, which helps brands solve their most challenging packaging problems in alignment with the ethos of New Earth Approved.

“We have been shipping so many boards directly to peoples’ homes, and the amount of plastic we were using was overwhelming; we knew this was a big issue, and that we had to do something about it,” says Jon Pyzel, founder of Pyzel Surfboards. “When the team at A New Earth Project came back with the S3, it gave us the ability to remove all single-use plastic from our surfboard shipping system and replace it with a fully curbside recyclable option. This shift makes our packaging a meaningful brand attribute and signals to our customers that we are doing our part to be more sustainable.”

The launch of A New Earth Project is supported by story-driven programming chronicling the challenges that global waters face, and the people, brands and organizations who are collaborating to find solutions. Journey to a New Earth is an eight-episode series, airing on Earth Day (April 22) on Outside TV and FUEL TV. This first of multiple series in development is designed to raise awareness about the environmental impacts generated by packaging that ends up in the world’s waterways, shared through the first-hand accounts of some of the most recognizable surfers in the world. The following day, Quiksilver and A New Earth Project will team up to present the 2022 US Board Riders National Championship at Lower Trestles, airing live on FUEL TV on Saturday, April 23 in more than 130 countries.

A New Earth Project also announced its first class of global advocates which includes professional surfers Kai Lenny, Vaihiti Mahana, Carlos Munoz and Koa Smith. These athletes, who have all demonstrated their commitment to environmental healing through their words and actions, are working to build awareness of the critical importance of sustainable packaging solutions.

“Surfing has given me the unique opportunity to travel and see first-hand the devastating impact single-use plastics are having on our oceans,” says Kai Lenny, professional surfer and committed environmentalist. “That’s why partnering with A New Earth Project and lending my voice to the conversation about the importance of sustainable packaging for the health of our planet is truly important to me.”