It all started with a dolphin
In July 2007 Allard Marx was working on the Delfino car project. He wanted to find a clean and sustainable energy source but in the meantime find a way to offset the damage done.
Though the Italian word Delfino means dolphin, adopting one seemed a little childish for a sports car. Instead one could reduce its carbon footprint, offset this and become carbon neutral. Yet the carbon footprint only measures air pollution. What measure was there for water pollution? And what way of aquatically offsetting it was there? None, apparently. And was going neutral enough? Why not become positive and recoup some of the previous damage done?
Going blue and aquatic
Not long after these ‘marine positive’ musings, Leopoldo Rodriquez (himself from a sea-faring dynasty) introduced Allard to Susannah Stewart, an expert in sustainability. She was enthusiastic and promptly added her experience to the notion. Together the two of them soon developed the water pollution acquatrail – as the aquatic equivalent of the carbon footprint – and Marine Positive Ltd. was formed.
Water pollution was still being hugely ignored, so they also established the The Going Blue Foundation, a UK registered charity, to raise the issue in the public consciousness and tackle this global problem at source. From going green came ‘go blue too’ for the foundation’s campaign – one that is gathering momentum worldwide.
In 2008, Prof. Roberto Danovaro et al published their scientific study in National Geographic and The Times, proving that most sunscreens kill coral. Evidently here was marine scientist that understood water pollution and he was immediately approached. He liked the acquatrail and marine positive so much that he promptly agreed to collaborate.
Through him and his team at Marche Polytechnic University the acquatrail acquired a scientific basis and is now the definitive and only formula for assigning a monetary damage value to water pollution.
So then the sunscreen study itself became the inspiration for the next phase of development and another separately managed entity.
In 2009 it was Susannah who suggested approaching some cosmetic companies to develop a marine positive sunscreen scientifically. Astonishingly, nobody picked up this idea and eventually they decided to just do it themselves with the help of formulation experts.
Susannah now leads Marine Positive and Allard took up the reigns at Aethic. Prof. Danovaro and his team did all the marine testing. First testing every single ingredient to select those that were the most ecocompatible and then the entire finished product. A patent was applied and was approved. As a result, Sôvée is the only sunscreen in the world to have a patented ecocompatible formula.
This is how we got here. It took two years to develop and test a cream that is superb, safer and softer for your skin and the ocean and that will be appreciated by people like you.
Aethic Sôvée is the successful outcome of this story and to have it delivered at home or your hotel buy it here.
The story will continue with some other ground-breaking products to add to the Aethic range, very soon…
