We interviewed the Ocean Bottle Founder & Co-CEO, Will Pearson, to find out the story behind the brand. Ocean Bottle has taken the world by storm to become the peoples choice of reusable bottle, and a lot of that has to do with the amazing social impact that they have on communities in the global south.
Describe Ocean Bottle in a few words.
We connect individuals to a global impact on stopping ocean plastic and enable them to be part of it with the world’s most needed reusable bottle. Each of our products funds collection equivalent to 1000 plastic bottles and sets up long term infrastructure to combat plastic pollution.
What is the story behind Ocean Bottle?
After my first season as a Deckhand in the Indian Ocean, I was travelling in Colombia and found rivers quite literally choking with plastic. After these encounters, I felt inspired to take action. The action began with further research into the plastic problem, learning that 22 million kgs of plastic pour into the ocean every single day. I was left questioning how we could collect plastic before it enters the ocean, which is when I came across Plastic Bank who were in the process of setting up recycling infrastructure in some of the worst-hit places such as Haiti, the Philippines,Indonesia, and Brazil.
I realised that this was a great solution and that we should connect people all over the world to it, which is where Ocean Bottle came in. I was determined to do something positive in the environmental space, but combine it with business.
Noticing that consumers wanted to be empowered to make positive choices and be part of the solution, I started working on Ocean Bottle. I met co-founder Nick atLondon Business School in 2017, we incorporated the company in 2018 and then travelled out to Norway to design the product with our design partners, K8. The design of the product itself took a full year and thousands of hours. It received the Red Dot Design and Green Product Award 2020 and we ended up with a Norwegian looking thing which balances aesthetics, sustainability and new levels of versatility.
What impact does Ocean Bottle have on communities in the Global South?
We support coastal communities in Haiti, Bali, The Philippines and Brazil who’ve bared the brunt of the world’s excess. If we are to seriously contribute to helping the climate and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, then we must address poverty, and other forms of social imbalance and injustice, at a local level.We do this with the help of our global community of customers and collaborators.
Every Ocean Bottle sold sends funds to collectors who are paid above the market rate. Collectors may also exchange plastic for other things they and their families need, from education to healthcare, or even micro-finance. We also endeavour to give communities and voices that are fighting social injustice every day a platform to be heard.
Why is it important for you as a brand to take climate action?
The overproduction of plastic is a significant greenhouse gas contributor. By 2050with plastic production set to quadruple and plastic could be responsible for 13% of the global carbon budget. Not only is there a direct impact on the climate from plastic production and waste disposal, but plastic pollution is one of the most significant threats to ocean health.
By choosing Ocean Bottle, you’re not only reducing your own plastic usage and helping slow down the production of single-use plastics, but you’re also playing an active role in keeping plastic out of the ocean whilst supporting the livelihoods of collectors in coastal communities.
To date, we have contributed 20% of our revenue to the plastic collection. No product is truly sustainable and in today’s world, everything has a footprint. We also offset all of our carbon footprints with Choose, by supporting Mangrove projects in Kenya.
What sets Ocean Bottle apart from other reusable bottle companies?
Ocean bottle is not a reusable bottle company but an impact company. Our reusable bottles is a vehicle for individuals to create a positive impact on our environment and specifically our ocean.
The main issue with the reusables bottle category is that they get left on the shelf.
Our core design goal as a company was to develop a product and an ecosystem that encourages people to bring their bottles with them and for them to be a part of a truly closed-loop system.
Our products are made from 84.7% recycled materials and come with spare parts for life under our repair scheme. We are the first product in our category to truly address circularity and all of our products are fully recyclable. We also enable customers to return their products to us if they are beyond repair and we’ll recycle them into anew one.
You can catch Will speaking at the Climate Crisis Film Festival event Business for Good.
