Tom Ford launches watch wholly made out of ocean plastic waste

American luxury fashion designer and filmmaker Tom Ford is devoted to taking action against the rapid rise in ocean plastic waste.

According to Vogue, ocean plastic is one of the biggest threats to marine life. More than eight million tons of plastic enter the oceans each year, and it is predicted that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish.

“It’s one of the greatest issues facing us: polluting the oceans. If they die, we’re in big trouble,” Vogue quoted Ford, who will be releasing a new watch made from 100% ocean plastic today on Nov.19.

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He has also announced a $1 million Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize for anyone who trail blazes research into and comes up with a scalable replacement for thin-film plastic that makes up polybags.

This project will be carried out over a period of five years. Ford hopes to choose a winner by 2022 and bring the product in the market by 2025.

“It has to be scalable, a real actual solution that can be manufactured and produced, that’s a big part of it. It’s been an education process for me, but I’m so excited about finding an alternative to a polybag,” he said.

Ford recalled watching actor Adrian Grenier talking about plastic straws. He says he first switched to metal straws and then from plastic to glass bottles.

“I told everyone at home and everyone at the office we’re getting rid of all single-use plastic. It all went off from seeing Adrian talk about straws,” he shared.

Ford is now partnering with Grenier on the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize.

Till the Innovation Prize can come into action, Ford’s ocean plastic watch will be removing waste equivalent to 35 bottles of plastic waste from the ocean.

“It’s incredibly durable. It’s beautifully made. And it says ‘ocean plastic’ on it. You see it on your arm and you think, ‘Wow, you can make great things out of ocean plastic’,” said the designer.

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