Ocean Day 2023:

NBA
SWISH FOR CHANGE

USA

Mission

Abandoned fishing nets as the most lethal pollution to the marine ecosystem.
About one million tons of nets end up in the oceans every year, harming mammals, fish, turtles and birds – often resulting in death and there is no clear way to solve it.

Challenge

The challenge is to create a solution, and sometimes the best solutions are born outside the context in which the problem is located. We had a spokesperson with the potential to make this project a major success. Ömer Yurtseven, the young player of the Miami Heat, arrived in the USA from Turkey to play his first season in the NBA, with a desire to join forces with sustainability. But how can we generate credibility in a new player and how do we turn him into the spokesperson for sustainability in the NBA?

Solution

The solution comes by connecting Ömer’s willingness to promote sustainability and our goal of positively impacting marine pollution. The concept was born: Swish for Change. Swish, for the sound of the ball hitting the net and Change, because with this initiative every basket is a score for sustainability. We accomplished that by
transforming disused fishing nets into basketball nets.

Fishing nets that will no longer pollute our oceans and by then taking those basketball nets to the communities that need them most.

Results

Swish for Change is a joint effort. A sustainable Dream Team consisting of: Ömer Yurtseven as a new leader of change in NBA Old Surfer, the Sustainable Consumption Foundation and Ecoballution, a certified supplier of the nets and responsible for collecting 8.5 tons of restored nets, working with the NBA in the remodeling of urban courts and the delivery of basketball nets to courts and schools in 12 cities.

The project was launched on social media on June 8, 2023, during #WorldOceanDay generating a massive impact on such an important date.