More than 140 people packed into Environmental Studies room 100 to hear from 4Ocean, a public benefit corporation that removes plastic waste from the waterways. Photo courtesy of Nina Bergbrant, Ph.D.
If you were late, you could forget about getting a seat in Eckerd College’s Environmental Studies 100 classroom on April 2.
An Evening with 4ocean—a public benefit corporation that removes trash from bodies of water and uses some of it to create jewelry—drew 140 attendees to hear from Bill Toomey, the company’s head of sustainability partnerships and parent of a 2019 Eckerd graduate.
Toomey doesn’t often get to present to students, but relished the standing room-only crowd. “The messages are always informative, upbeat, positive and focused on what actions the audience can take to advance meaningful change,” Toomey explained.
Students, faculty and staff were treated to an overview of how the group has grown its impact and partnerships over the past few years and then challenged to join its cause. Toomey offered all attendees to take a pledge to reduce their single-use plastic consumption. If they signed the pledge, 4ocean would remove 1 pound of plastic in their honor. Students can track their progress during the month of April using Remora—an app created by Reduce Single-use at Eckerd College to help users track every time they refuse a single-use option such as silverware and plastic cups. Five winners will be chosen from the Eckerd students who join the challenge to track their activity at the end of the month.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Marketing Nina Bergbrant has cultivated a relationship with 4Ocean through her Reflective Service Learning courses.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Marketing Nina Bergbrant curated the event with the help of sponsors from the offices of Foundations, Sustainability, Comparative Cultures and Marketing Discipline, Delta Sigma Pi coed business fraternity and Reduce Single-Use at Eckerd College.
“Every semester in my marketing courses, I explore with my students how 4ocean utilizes storytelling as part of their marketing to spread awareness and to build a community and engagement with consumers and business partners,” Bergbrant says
Attendees also got swag bags full of eco-friendly reusables.
“My hope with the event was to bring together our community to see how we all can have an impact and how businesses are shaping awareness about environmental issues and the actions they are taking.”
The event had other perks as well.
Attendees received a cotton tote “swag” bag with the Eckerd logo, a double-walled plastic tumbler for hot and cold beverages, a wheat straw utensil set, 4ocean sticker and 4ocean bracelet.
“The idea was that students would get items to help them make choices on and off campus in their daily habits regarding their single-use plastic consumption,” Bergbrant added. “The 4ocean bracelet is to serve as a reminder and storytelling device to help spread the message and need for the plastic crisis that we are facing and to remind them of the daily choices we make and the actions we can take as individuals.”
Students in attendance looked at the freebies as a bonus. They were genuinely curious about how a for-profit corporation could also be doing something good for the planet.
“It was a really interesting presentation because it kind of spanned several different disciplines,” said Isabella Spanos, a junior marine science student from Bradenton, Florida. “They kind of gave us the business angle on their business model, as well as the sustainability values at the core of their mission. And then, of course, the marine science logistics of what they actually do.”
Isabella moved to Florida after leaving college in Ohio because of her dream to work in marine science research. She transferred to Eckerd and found her passion in seaweed with Assistant Professor of Marine Science Shanice Piango-Brown, Ph.D. Still, she was fascinated by 4ocean’s mission and drive.
4ocean’s Bill Toomey shared the company’s progress in his presentation including their new milestones of plastic removal.
“It was cool to see, as someone deciding what kind of career direction I might want to take,” she recalled. “It’s cool to see interdisciplinary fields like that, and get an idea of all the different skills at play. And 4ocean is a leading company in that way and what they’re doing. So it’s really cool to just get an inside look to how they do things. They’re pretty transparent about their methods.”
Toomey was also impressed with the mission enough to leave the non-profit space to join the company.
“I have worked in the non-profit, mission driven space my entire career working for world class organizations creating positive impact for people, communities and the planet,” Toomey said. “I joined 4ocean in 2024 and lead the Sustainability Partnerships team.”
Finn Mullins, a marine science student from Sarasota, Florida, said he enjoyed his reintroduction to 4ocean on April 2.
“In biological oceanography, I had kind of seen some of my friends wear [4ocean] bracelets,” Finn said. “I always thought it was a cool idea that you can turn trash into something useful because there’s so much trash in our oceans. It’s one thing to remove it and take it to a landfill, but you know eventually that, because of how landfills are run in America, that it all gets back into the ocean. As I went on to sophomore and junior years, I kept seeing more events for them. They’re picking up track traction. What I saw at the event was really, really inspiring, because they started as a much smaller organization, but they’ve really grown, which is really, really nice to see.”
In February 2026, 4ocean celebrated a major milestone—50 million pounds of plastic removed. The milestone celebration took place in Boca Raton, Florida, on Feb 20.
