For each product we can quantify how much water and air have been cleaned!

The scientists at Bloom have worked to quantify the specific positive impacts our materials make on freshwater ecosystems and the air we breathe. When brands incorporate Bloom materials into their shoes, they are able to know exactly how each pair is working for good.

We translate these impacts using visuals such as cubic meters of air cleaned of CO2, and liters of water cleaned of harmful nutrients.

In order to ensure these numbers are accurate and trustworthy, we have created the Bloom Certification system to track our impacts from our factory to you!

Every product using Bloom cleans at a minimum 8 liters of water and 5 cubic meters of air of CO2. Together we can make a difference for the environment!

The pellets are ready to be converted into consumer products with measurable environmental impacts!

From pollution to product, we have turned a societal negative into an environmental positive!

Find other products made using Bloom here! From shoes to hats to bags to surf traction pads we are constantly growing our market reach with BLOOM™ compounds! What will be next??

The algae powder is blended with polymers to produce BLOOM™ pellets that are ready to be made into products!

A base resin and the algae powder is melted and mixed together using a customized twin screw extruder. The final product is an algae pellet made of at least 45% algae! It is now ready to be delivered to a brand’s factory to be transformed into consumer products!

The algae flakes are smashed together to create a fine green powder for blending into BLOOM™ compounds.

The algae flakes are transferred to a Jet Mill where extreme high winds and pressure allow the flakes to smash into one another, breaking into smaller and smaller pieces that eventually turn into a powder!

Using heat, the algae paste is dried to produce crunchy flakes.

The process usually includes an industrial microwave with multiple heating chambers. Under the right conditions, the algae can actually be solar dried, eliminating the energy needed to power the microwave. The algae flakes are now ready to be delivered to BLOOM™ for it’s final conversion stages! The algae flakes can be stored until needed.

Wet algae is harvested and squeezed into a paste. It is ready to be dried!

Once the algae is collected it is then transferred to a plate and frame press to squeeze out as much water as possible. The resulting form is a putty-like substance that is ready to be dried even further!

Watch the video to see how this process works.

Using algae technology, we intercept pollution before it negatively impacts nature, supporting our transformation from a linear to a circular economy.

While the mobile harvesters respond to an emergency algae bloom, it is our goal that the blooms never happen to begin with. That is why we partner with Clearas to implement algae harvesting technology at waste water treatment facilities. CLEARAS Water Recovery delivers biological-based wastewater treatment solutions for nutrient recovery. Municipal and industrial dischargers leverage Advanced Biological Nutrient Recovery (ABNR™) technology to cost-effectively recover phosphorus, nitrogen, and other constituents. As a bolt-on solution, ABNR™ enables customers to realize resource recovery across the treatment cycle. Benefits include reuse-quality water, recycled carbon dioxide, and a valuable plant-based biomaterial.

Through a unique application of biomimicry, ABNR™ leverages and enhances nature’s time tested patterns of nutrient recovery by transferring the problem – algae blooms – into the solution.

ABNR™ is a sustainable and regenerative approach to nutrient treatment. It achieves best-in-class water quality, is modular and scalable, and produces a plant-based biomaterial co-product. That co-product is upcycled into diversified and growing markets including plastics, foams, feeds, and soil enhancements. Customers benefit from a residual income stream created from the sale and upcycling of this valuable plant-based biomaterial.

Through environmental restoration, algae is harvested to export nutrients and restore balance to the ecosystem.

BLOOM has developed small-scale, mobile harvesting units as an emergency response solution to algae blooms. A pump brings the polluted water to the unit where it is mixed with an industry standard coagulant, which allows the algae to stick together in small clumps called flocks. Tiny air bubbles are then injected into the water that allows the flocks to float to the surface of the tank. Every 10 minutes or so, a big squeegee scrapes the algae into a collection tank where it is now ready to be converted into an algae paste. The algae-separated water is then returned back into the environment, restoring balance to that ecosystem.

We have since partnered with the World’s largest engineering firm, AECOM, who uses our harvesters for demonstrations to show cities and municipalities our algae harvesting technology as a solution for  algae bloom remediation. The goal is to build permanent algae harvesting infrastructure on strategic lakes across the US!

Learn more about AECOM’s initiative!

https://aecom.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AECOM_MitigatingHABs-1.pdf

https://aecom.com/projects/toxic-algae-removal/

24hrs of Harvesting – Before and After

 

Algae absorbs the pollution at an uncontrollable rate causing algae blooms that deplete oxygen levels and kill plant and animal life.

Algae is Earth’s smallest plant…kind of. It’s plant-like, meaning it doesn’t have a root system, leaves, and stems, but it does contain chlorophyll and it does photosynthesize. Algae is one of the earliest organism to inhabit Earth and the first to photosynthesize – converting solar energy into oxygen.

Algae is the fastest growing “plant” on Earth! Under the right conditions, it can double its size in as little as 24 hours! It requires minimal energy for growth making it one of the most renewable resources on the planet.

There are over 72,000 species of algae! Some scientists actually estimate there are anywhere from 30,000-1 million species of algae!

Algae is very adaptable! You can find algae in fresh and salt water, under polar ice sheets, on tree trunks, and even on animal fur!

Over 70% of the world’s oxygen comes from algae! This is true because most of Earth’s surface is water, where algae thrive. You can thank algae for the refreshing air you breathe!

 

Agricultural runoff, industrial runoff, and human activity has led to polluted waters.

Human activities are polluting the air and threatening freshwater ecosystems around the world. We believe in forming symbiotic relationships with nature that create renewable resources while also revitalizing and maintaining healthy ecosystems.

The rise in global temperatures, excess nutrient runoff, and human activities have lead to harmful effects like massive algal blooms in ecosystems around the world. Water pollution is an invisible problem made visible by rampant algae growth.

At Bloom, we’re determined to reverse the effects of water pollution by working with natural resources like algae to create sustainable materials, generate clean water, and maintain healthy ecosystems.