Its mission is twofold: to make a profit and to clean up oceans, beaches, and waterways around the world. To further that second objective, United by Blue is committed to removing one pound of trash for each product it sells.
That could have great appeal for the incensed eco-shopper who happens upon Linton's website, www.unitedbyblue.com.
Still, he's conflicted.
"From a business perspective, maybe there will be benefits" to United by Blue, he said of the spill. "But if I had my way, I would rather not make a hundred thousand dollars in sales and not have that oil spill happen."
At least for that moment, the typically full-bore salesman seemed to have lost his business mojo. Then again, he's only 23 - how much of a track record could he have?
Plenty, it turns out.
Pat Arnett remembers when her grandson was a child living in Singapore and spending summers at her Cape Cod home.
"We would go to Kmart and the grocery stores and buy candy, and he would take it all home with him to Singapore," Arnett said in an interview Thursday. "He said he had to make some money."
Along with a friend, Linton would sell those packets of Sour Patch Kids and SweetTarts - U.S. delicacies typically unavailable to Asian youngsters - to his classmates for $3 each. They cost him only about 50 cents each.
"We were making hundreds of dollars and investing it in our hobby," which was raising tropical fish, Linton said. (Fish tanks were a childhood obsession, as in 30 of them.)
In another grade-school venture, Linton said, he "capitalized on the Beanie Baby phase." During a visit to China, he bought dozens of them for $1 to $2 each, then sold them to classmates in Singapore for up to $20 apiece.
