Consumers around the world are well accustomed to easily buying products from Amazon. As the world’s largest retailer, they seem to carry everything under sun available for a tap or a click.
Well, almost everything under the sun. Soon they can add seaweed to their product lineup as the company recently announced it is opening the first commercial scale seaweed farm on the globe.
Investing in Seaweed
Amazon is truly going all in on something most of us hate. When it washes up on the beaches and chokes the perfect swimming spots in the ocean it can make enjoying a beach vacation a little more of a challenge.
In fact, the new Amazon investment in the commercial scale seaweed farm is a $1.66 million commitment.
However, the new Amazon seaweed farm in not entirely about creating a commercial opportunity for the macroalgae. Instead, it also is part of a larger, and more important, environmental investment on the part of the company.
Carbon “Sea”questration
As part of its progressive biodiversity and climate initiative to offset the impact of its Amazon Prime vans and airplanes, the company plans to use the seaweed farm to help with carbon sequestration and storage for a greener planet.
Amazon has pledged to adopt the Paris Agreement’s mission to use renewable and sustainable energy by next year and become net zero by 2040.
“This project plays a vital role in Amazon’s broader sustainability story and everything we do to explore and support ways that can restore biodiversity and help fight climate change,” said Amazon’s Netherlands Country Manager Roeland Donker in a story on the topic.
North Sea Farm 1
The first commercial scale seaweed farm will be called North Sea Farm (NSF) 1 and will be created in the Netherlands for farmers and scientists to test and develop the most effective and efficient commercial seaweed crop.
It will eventually scale up to produce more than 13,000 pounds of seaweed every year which is being targeted by Amazon for carbon capture, food and even clothing use.
“The fact that we can play a role in this, supporting vital research by North Sea farmers and their partners – which one day we hope to share with the world – is incredibly exciting,” added Donker.
Some Additional Potential Uses For Seaweed
In addition to carbon capture, food and clothing, Amazon could leverage the seaweed crop for high-end, personal-label skincare products. Seaweed has been traditionally used in a number of pricy face and skin care products such as lotions, creams and even refreshing facial masks.
In fact, a number of resorts are already incorporating seaweed-infused products into the pricy luxury spa treatments and healthy skin care programs.
Some research also shows that seaweed could be used as a hunger suppressant, because of its high fiber content and few calories, which could be developed into a natural weight-loss product.
It could also be further developed into a biofuel without waste, which could ultimately be used to further Amazon’s progressive environmental goals by powering the company’s delivery vehicles.
What Consumers Need To Know
Amazon’s step forward to address the worldwide issue of combatting seaweed is a good move not only for consumers and the environment but also potentially for the travel businesses that have tons of macroalgae with nothing to do with it.
Hopefully, the products developed by the new Amazon commercial-scale test farm in the Netherlands become a success and encourage other innovative consumer product companies and retailers to find additional uses for annoying and smelly seaweed.