Ocean Bottle
What do we at Naturally Sustainable know of
Ocean Bottle and its Product Range.
A British company launched in London in 2019. It is an organisation created specifically to close the loop in the Circular Economy.
From small beginnings it has mushroomed in a little over four years into a multi-million business with, to date, 367 collection sites across South America, Africa, India and South East Asia, where in excess of 70% of its collection sites are based (more of that in the review). Ocean Bottle partner with three plastic collection operations world wide. These are organisations dedicated to collecting ocean-bound plastic BEFORE it reaches any of our oceans around the world. This is a fascinating and exciting review from a new era business.
Recent studies found ocean bound plastic pollution arises from up to 1000 rivers flowing through dense coastal cities in emerging economies - click the video for more information.
Video courtesy of OCEAN CLEANUP
Learn how the circular economy in India is using waste collectors in an organised system click on the video for more information
Video courtesy of Banyan Nation - India
Plastic is a useful tool in society, the scourge has been how we have mismanaged it.
To understand how Ocean Bottle are closing the loop first lets take a look at the problem.
Experts advise, once plastic pollution has reached our oceans it is too late, immense damage has already been done. To find out more click on the Ocean Cleanup video.
As BOTH of these videos explain - we must stop plastic reaching the ocean and that is where Ocean Bottle had created and operates its business plan.
It is a fact that every single day the volume of plastic in those 1000 rivers is immense. We need people like Ocean Bottle, they need people like you and me.
1 FOR 1000
With the sale of every Drink Bottle Ocean Bottle fund the collection of 11.368 kg of ocean-bound plastic (the equivalent in weight to 1,000 plastic bottles). Check it out below
Tackle River Borne Plastic Pollution the SMART way.
Ocean Bottle, along with its partners and other organisations have a fight on their hands. One where people like you, your friends, your neighbours can offer real help by buying a drinks bottle from Ocean Bottle. Help yourself to hydrate and by doing so help save the world's oceans.
'Mismanagement practices often in developing countries add to uncontrolled volumes of plastic waste finding its way into river systems. Did you know the UK exports more than 60% of its recycled plastic, principally to Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam. We need to help stop those exports'.
Source: University of Portsmouth School of the Environment and Life Sciences.
Ocean Bottle is a B Corp Company.
The journey asks a lot more than making their products fit for purpose, a lot more! Every B Corp business initiates and measures its IMPACT* on and in society***
As of 18th April 2024
13,686,600kg of ocean bound plastic has been collected by Ocean Bottle in collaboration with its three global partners.
AWARD WINNING DESIGNS
AND 10 YEAR WARRANTY
- Rapid Engraving
- Colour Printing
- Pantone Matching
Ocean Health
Ocean health is crucial for many reasons.
First and foremost the ocean provides us with a significant portion of the Earth's oxygen supply, produced by marine plants like phytoplankton. Imagine if the very air we breathe were to diminish.
A healthy ocean say Ocean Bottle regulates the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide and heat from the atmosphere, helping to stabilise global temperatures. Healthy ocean waters support biodiversity, hosting a vast assortment of marine life, from tiny plankton to majestic whales.
- Ocean Bottle collected 4,567,675 kgs of ocean bound plastic last year across all of its collection sites and operations.
- They set up Ocean Co a place where UK business can get involved. Already its plastic collection service has 30+ customers preventing a further 56,049 kgs of plastic entering the ocean.
- Ocean Bottle has funded 45 Apprenticeship schemes in plastic waste recycling.
Our review applauds these major efforts by a still young UK based company.
Social Good
As environmental stewards, Ocean Bottle understand that tackling issues like plastic pollution requires an wholly holistic approach able to prioritise the well-being of local communities affected by these challenges.
In close synergy with their partnerships; Plastics for Change, rePurpose Global, and Plastic Bank! the Ocean Bottle strategy involves empowering communities economically and socially, investing in healthcare, education, and housing projects. By addressing these issues, they enhance resilience in their working relationship always at the heart of each community and in so doing they promote a more equitable world.
A percentage of their plastic collection funds is especially dedicated to support the wellbeing of coastal communities impacted by extensive plastic waste accumulation along their shores.
While a significant portion of their social responsibility efforts are focused on supporting coastal communities, here at home in the UK, Ocean Bottle undertake projects locally, such as their recent collaboration with Swim England that has funded over 16,000 swimming lessons.
Closing the Loop
Closing the loop is a foundational principle for Ocean Bottle. It is the DNA upon which the company was founded, it drives continual improvement in product and service design.
Ocean Bottle see themselves as far from perfect, they know they do not live in a circular system, and so each year they push themselves to find regenerative solutions.
Their strategy revolves around products and services that not only fulfil their purpose but also instigate systemic change, like their refill movement. They envisage a society moving away from the convenience-driven culture of single-use plastic towards a wider availability of fit for purpose products, embracing more circular supply chains, reusability, repairability, and more holistic designs that place both ecosystems resource protection and people wellbeing at their core.
Image courtesy of Sasha Pestano on Unsplash
TOMbag is an Australian social enterprise on a mission to rid the world of single-use garbage bags.
Climate Action
For the last century, capitally focused private enterprise has destroyed more of the planet and its people than it has created.
As a 21st century company born in the eye of an environmental and social storm, Ocean Bottle say they cannot replicate the corporate status quo. Leveraging the nimbility that the private sector allows (vs the public sector), they say they must always conduct business knowing the consequences of their actions, and re-adjust accordingly.
Whether it’s taking a hard look at emissions within their value chain, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, transitioning to renewable energy sources, or implementing strategies to adapt to its effects; it is in their view, essential to analyse their footprint as an equation that returns to the planet more than it takes from it.
Ocean Bottle 2024 and Beyond
Conclusion: We hope you will agree Ocean Bottle will do more, much more than create a legacy. Theirs is the kind of business that is still in its infancy - one day, perhaps in the not too distant future its corporate profile will be synonymous with the way of life that represents caring communities across the globe.
