Recycling Sails into Shelters with Angela Abshier | Sea Change

September 9, 2022

Getting the most out of our raw materials!

Look around you. What do you see? A lot of stuff? Material objects? Now, think about where those things are going to go after they have served their purpose. We're willing to bet that most of those items will end up in a landfill or in the ocean. Our system, as it stands, follows a linear path of waste management where an item is produced, used, and thrown away. We humans are more innovative than that. We can work to blaze that linear path into a circle.

Angela Abshier, Founder of Sail to Shelter, joins Jenna for this episode of the Sea Change Podcast to discuss just that, innovating solutions to give new life to materials that were destined for a landfill.

Sail to Shelter is a nonprofit organization working to extend the utility of high performance sails by thinking of them like a building material. Together with architects, engineers, sailmakers, and fabric technicians, they are creating solutions for the ever growing humanitarian crises occurring around the world.

Special thanks to Leslie Ewing, host of Shorewords! on the American Shoreline Podcast Network, for connecting Angela and Jenna. Angela and Leslie crossed paths through The Explorers Club, where Angela was recently selected into this year's group of the Explorer's Club 50, highlighting 50 people changing the world.

Show Transcription
This transcription was generated by a computer. Please excuse any errors.
Jenna Valente

A passion for conservation and appreciation for the natural world was engrained in Jenna at a young age. Her father was in the Coast Guard. This meant she always had the fortune of living near the ocean, including Hawaii, Washington State, and Maine. Both of her parents encouraged her to spend the majority of her time outside. As a result, she finds that she is most comfortable barefoot and exploring the coast, countryside, or mountains. Her favorite thing about the ocean is the sheer power of it all. Jenna joined the American Littoral Society as the Healthy Oceans Coalition Coordinator from the Chesapeake Research Consortium where she was a member of the communications staff and focused on building the brand of the program and ensure the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Jenna completed her Executive Master of Natural Resources from Virginia Tech in 2015 and also has her Bachelors in Communication and Journalism from the University of Maine.