United by Blue

United by Blue is a B-Corporation. What is a B-Corporation, you might ask? This is a new way to incorporate that began in 2010; six states have already passed legislation and five additional states have bills pending. Certified B Corporations use the power of business to address social and environmental problems. Unlike traditional business structures and their standards of accountability, B-Corps must meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards; meet higher legal accountability standards; and build business constituency for public policies that support sustainable business.

So how is United by Blue achieving that end?

For every product sold, they remove one pound of trash from our oceans and waterways; right now, they are on track to remove a million pounds of trash from our waterways by the close of 2012. They are not partnering with NGOs to do the dirty work: the anti-pollution efforts are conducted in-house and customers are welcome to volunteer their services, or to choose to put their purchases toward a 'dream' cleanup. Right now, they are targeting New York City's waterways, and once these cleanups have enough purchases backing them, United by Blue will make it official and begin the recruitment process.

United By Blue is committed to doing the least amount of harm to the environment in everything that it does: for example, they package organic products in paper made from rapidly renewing banana fibers, and have reduced plastic in its supply chain by 80% as a result. They even have a policy forbidding single-use disposable water bottles in the office, since these are the most commonly found item at cleanups.

The clothing line is sold in Urban Outfitters, thus hip and current but bypassing sequins or rail-thin models. Everything in the line reflects an 'ocean vibe,' allowing wearers to, with subtlety, show off the company's true-blue mission.