People watching fireworks over the ocean at sunset on a rocky shoreline with boats in the distance.

In 2012, I graduated from Utah Valley University with a degree in film and digital media. One of the most memorable projects I worked on was a documentary about a woman from a small fishing village in southern Chile. She grew up by the Pacific Ocean in the 1950s, when the world wasn’t yet gripped by industrial fishing or the global economy. Back then, the oceans were still clean and filled with life.

She told me this incredible story about how ocean currents would bring schools of fish close to the shore. These fish would get trapped in natural rock pools along the beach, and locals could gather them by hand. Can you imagine that today? It’s hard to, especially now, that kind of abundance feels like a distant memory.

Working on this documentary was a wake-up call for me. It made me realize how much has changed—and not for the better. I learned more about the threats to our oceans: plastic pollution, overfishing, acidification, and the impacts of climate change. Beyond the oceans, these changes are causing floods and wildfires, reshaping our world in ways that can’t be ignored.

I couldn’t just stand by and watch. But in 2015, I founded SOLOEARTH Sustainability instead.

Over time, I’ve come to appreciate nature’s incredible design. It’s perfectly balanced, supporting all life and gifting us the biodiversity that we need to survive, and inspired so much of our scientific progress. It’s breathtaking when you stop to think about it.

As citizens of the 21st century, we’re standing at a crossroads. We have the chance to recognize the real benefits that nature offers us and live a more sustainable way of life. One that protects the planet’s health, celebrates its beauty and respects the resources it provides us. That’s what SOLOEARTH is all about, and I’m excited to continue this journey with people who care just as much as I do.

Rodrigo Diaz del Villar.

Founder

A boat on the sandy beach at sunset, with people standing and walking along the shoreline in the distance.
A man and girl sitting on a boat at sunset by the ocean, with lanterns floating on the water in the background.
A group of people standing on a sandy beach with ocean waves in the background, smiling and waving. The image has text that says, "Let the Ocean Recover."
A coastal landscape with green moss and algae-covered rocks and tide pools, with hills and cliffs in the background and a partly cloudy sky.
Two young girls sitting on the beach, smiling and showing their painted hands, with the ocean and a pier in the background.