‘Below Deck’ Captain Jason Chambers Is Turning Reality TV Fame Into Real-World Impact

Captain Jason Chambers may be best known as the steady hand at the helm of Below Deck, navigating crew drama and high-maintenance charter guests under the glare of reality TV cameras. But off-screen, the captain has been quietly redirecting his platform toward something far more grounded.

Living between Australia and Indonesia, Chambers has witnessed firsthand the environmental challenges facing coastal communities, particularly the mounting plastic waste crisis across Southeast Asia. Instead of simply posting about it, he explained on Come Together that he’s funding projects, spotlighting grassroots organizations, and investing his own time in sustainable development efforts that extend well beyond Bravo. For Chambers, his fame is leverage. And as it increases, he’s using it to build something that lasts longer than a six-week charter season.

From superyachts to sustainability

Chambers spent years at the helm of some of the world’s largest vessels. “I was working on a big boat, a 300-ft boat for many years over in the Mediterranean,” he says. But after stepping away from the mega-yacht circuit and relocating to Southeast Asia, his focus shifted.

Living in Indonesia exposed him to the scale of the region’s waste crisis. “There’s 24 tons a day of plastic waste in Indonesia that go into the rivers and oceans.” Seeing it firsthand pushed him to redirect his platform. “Virtually all my social media now is just geared at foundations.” 

Building a school from six tons of plastic waste

One of Chambers’ most tangible projects to date is a school in Lombok built using recycled plastic. “I raised enough money to build a school in Lombok all out of recycled plastic waste,” he says. The classroom itself diverted a significant amount of material from landfills and waterways. “That took six tons of plastic waste.”

The project came through a foundation working to rebuild schools damaged by earthquakes in the region. “400 schools got knocked down in 2018 during the earthquakes,” he explains. Through a partnership with a company turning plastic into construction blocks, waste is transformed into durable, flexible materials. “They’re turning plastic waste into building blocks…and because there’s flexibility in the building blocks…they’re virtually earthquake resistant.”

‘Travel with a conscience’ is his new mission

Chambers has turned his focus toward documenting the people already doing environmental work in the places he lives and visits. “I call it travel with a conscience,” he says. “When you’re there, just understand there’s some people on the ground that are doing great things for the environment…and I want to meet them.”

Through his YouTube series Current of Change, he’s profiling those efforts directly. “I’m traveling to locations and talking about those locations, but also meeting people that are doing great for the environment.”

The intention is long-term. “I think it’s going to be educational for myself, and I can pass that on to my daughter…I can pass that on to my followers.” He’s amplifying local solutions rather than speaking over them.

Why plastic waste in Indonesia hit him so hard

Spending years in Southeast Asia gave Chambers proximity to the issue. “I lived in the Philippines for 10 years,” he says, explaining that the waste problem isn’t theoretical—it’s daily life. Infrastructure is limited, and recycling systems are inconsistent. “You don’t have, like, the garbage man…it just goes to one big dump and there’s no recycling.”

He also began meeting locals trying to change that reality. In one upcoming project, he highlights two Australians “using plastic waste to build school furniture for the schools.” Another group is “buying the plastic off the locals for waste…cleaning it up and they’re selling it back.”

Chambers says that living there meant seeing both the scale of the problem and the people actively trying to fix it—and deciding to platform them.

To hear Jason Chambers’ full conversation, listen to Come Together wherever you get your podcasts.

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