One Earth One Ocean
One Earth One Ocean clears plastic from rivers, harbours and coastlines with a fleet of collection boats it designed itself, then sorts and recycles what it collects with fairly paid local teams. It won Best Project in Germany in 100 Projects in 100 Countries and presented its work at the Environmental Xperience at EarthX.
- Founded
- 2011, by Günther Bonin
- Based in
- Munich and Kiel, Germany
- Works in
- Germany and the Baltic, Cambodia, the Philippines, Brazil, Hong Kong, and now Bocas del Toro, Panama, with cleanup partners in 10 countries
- Recognition
- GreenTec Award (2013); German Federal Ecodesign Award for the SeeElefant concept (2019); UN Clean Seas partner since 2018
- Website
- oneearth-oneocean.com
What they do
Günther Bonin, a Munich IT entrepreneur and lifelong sailor, kept running into plastic in the most remote places he sailed. In 2010 he found almost no one was working on how to get it back out of the water, so he paused his company and founded One Earth One Ocean the following year with marine biologists, the boat designer Thomas Hahn and volunteers.
Their answer is “maritime garbage collection”: special boats collect plastic from inland waters, river mouths and coastal seas, and the waste is brought ashore to be sorted and recycled. The fleet includes:
- SeeHamster, small catamarans about four metres long with a fold-down net, in use on lakes, rivers and the Baltic since 2012.
- SeeKuh, a 12 by 10 metre collection vessel launched in 2016 and used on the Baltic and in Hong Kong. It moves at walking pace so larger animals can avoid the net while small organisms pass through the mesh.
- Circular Explorer, a solar-powered catamaran commissioned in Hamburg in 2021 to recover ghost fishing nets.
- SeeElefant, a converted bulk freighter now in development that will sort, shred and recycle plastic on board.
In its international projects OEOO hires local boat crews and sorting teams on steady, fair wages, so cleaner water also means more secure incomes and healthier local fish stocks. It also researches microplastics and runs education programmes, school cleanups and the Marine Heroes beach cleanups on the German coast.
The SeeElefant: recycling at sea
The SeeElefant is One Earth One Ocean’s most ambitious project: a converted bulk freighter with sorting, shredding, processing and recycling systems on board, designed to take in plastic collected at sea and on land and return it to the materials cycle, at a capacity of about 60,000 tonnes a year. The concept won Germany’s Federal Ecodesign Award in 2019, and the plan is to operate several SeeElefants around the world.
In November 2025 the climate specialist South Pole confirmed in a letter of intent that the SeeElefant could generate up to 32,000 carbon credits a year on the voluntary carbon market. Project lead Dr. Harald Frank says the potential revenue from these credits gives the project a much firmer footing for its operation.
Read the full SeeElefant story
At the Environmental Xperience at EarthX
Dr. Harald Frank and Jana Koebel travelled to Dallas to present all of One Earth One Ocean’s projects, including the SeeElefant, during the Rotary programme at the Environmental Xperience at EarthX: its collection boats, river and beach cleanups, recycling work in Asia, Brazil and Panama, and education programmes.
Dr. Harald Frank
Project Lead, SeeElefant, One Earth One Ocean
Economist and strategic partner of One Earth One Ocean, based in Kiel. He led the feasibility study for its maritime garbage collection concept and now leads the SeeElefant project.
Jana Koebel
Advisor, Plastic Projects, Rotary Club of Newport Beach | Project Manager, One Earth One Ocean | Founder, Seas & Straws
Eco warrior who founded Seas & Straws and manages One Earth One Ocean’s new recycling project in Bocas del Toro, Panama. An accredited plastic-free consultant who represents OEOO’s work to partners and audiences, including at EarthX.
New in the Caribbean: Bocas del Toro, Panama
One Earth One Ocean is expanding into the Caribbean with a project in Bocas del Toro, where ocean plastic collects on mangrove islands and less than 5 percent of waste is recycled. Eco warrior Jana Koebel of Seas & Straws is coordinating the setup with the local Bocas Recycle Center, starting with marine debris removal and building toward a complete recycling structure.
In the news: The Bocas Breeze, 23 May 2026
8 to 10 tons of trash cleared from Solarte mangroves
On 20 May 2026 Jana Koebel of One Earth One Ocean organized a cleanup of illegal dump sites in the mangroves on the south side of Solarte Island, Bocas del Toro. About two dozen volunteers on five boats, with local dive centers and surf schools, hauled out roughly 450 to 500 bags, around 8 to 10 tons of trash, and found a third dump site along the way. The community is now pushing for lasting fixes: certified trash transport from the outer islands, businesses tracking their waste to the official collection service, and watching dump sites.
100 Projects in 100 Countries: Best Project in Germany
One Earth One Ocean won Best Project in Germany in 100 Projects in 100 Countries, the year-round global competition of the Rotary Club of Newport Beach Global Service Committee, presented with the Environmental Xperience at EarthX and CNN’s Call to Earth.
How to help
- Support their work or become a member through their website.
- Rotary clubs can partner on a river or coastal cleanup project in a country where OEOO works.
- Invite One Earth One Ocean to speak to your club, school or conference.