PUTSBOROUGH BEACH

One quiet Sunday afternoon, we were lounging on the sofa at home, talking about what to cook for dinner, when our WhatsApp group pinged. A message had come through that a huge haul of ghost fishing gear had washed up on Putsborough Beach.

Honestly, we did think about staying put. But the thought of wildlife getting tangled in it pushed us off the sofa and into the van.

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After a long walk along the beach, we finally found it. A massive, chaotic knot of ropes and fishing gear washed up along the shoreline. Slowly, we broke it down into smaller sections, hauling bundle after bundle up the hill and into the van.

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Back at our microfactory, the transformation began. The ropes were cleaned, sorted and fed into our giant shredder before being turned into sheets and granulate.

From there, we hand-inject the material to create our butter knives. The different rope colours melt together into beautiful, unpredictable patterns, meaning no two are ever the same. Just like the coastline they came from.

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Each butter knife removes ghost gear from the ocean, protects wildlife, and stops plastics from breaking down into harmful microplastics.

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What started as a lazy Sunday afternoon turned into another small step towards protecting the coast we love.

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From Ocean Waste to Sustainable Products

At Ecotribo, our mission is to give ocean waste a new life. Once the ghost net was collected, we cleaned, shredded, and processed the material at our new local Devon microfactory. The nets were transformed into something positive - recycled ocean plastic products that inspire conscious living and raise awareness about ocean conservation.

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These once-harmful nets & ropes are now part of our eco-friendly range of products.

 

Check out our growing range of knives, plant pots, carabiners and furniture - beautiful reminders that sustainability and design can coexist. Each product tells a story of transformation: from ghost gear polluting our seas to purposeful products made right here on the UK coast.

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Why Ghost Nets Matter

Scientists now estimate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch holds a staggering 100,000 tonnes of plastic - up to 16 times more than was once believed. To put that into perspective, that’s the weight of over 740 Boeing 777s drifting across the sea. and pose one of the greatest threats to marine life.

 

By recycling ghost nets into new products that last a lifetime and are fully recyclable, we not only help clean our beaches by getting this stuff out of harm's reach but also close the loop - reducing demand for virgin plastic (which uses a significant amount of C02) and inspiring a circular economy built on purpose and care for the planet.

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Join the Movement

Every purchase of an Ecotribo product helps fund more clean-ups and ocean recovery missions like this one. Together, we can turn the tide on plastic pollution - one ghost net at a time.