EP181. Seaweed magic - from marine waste to cosmetic perfection

Seaweed is an amazing, multipurpose marine plant. It offers a habitat for marine life of all shapes and sizes, grows and regenerates quickly and has a magical way of helping heal the ocean by absorbing harmful ingredients washed into our oceans by large scale manufacturing and farming. In the context of the global climate crisis, this is highly encouraging. However, human activity has a nasty way of interfering with the planet’s finely-balanced eco-system and also affects what nature intended for seaweed. Take for example sargassum seaweed, which, as a result of excessive nutrients being flushed into the ocean, creates massive algal blooms every year that bring with them their own destructive ecological and economic problems. In 2020, an innovative team of entrepreneurs and STEM experts started to investigate what consumer products could be made from sargassum. Fast forward a year and they became the world’s leading developer of ultra-regenerative, plant-based biomaterials from seaweed. In 2021, they brought to market the world’s first all-natural, sustainable, plant-based emulsifier for cosmetic use and it has taken the beauty industry by storm. In this episode, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier talks to Geoff Chapin, CEO and co-founder of Carbonwave on his inspiration behind the business of upcycling seaweed. If you are interested in hearing more about this amazing marine-based functional cosmetic ingredient, you don’t want to miss this exciting conversation about a field of cosmetic research that is taking the industry by storm.