On In London Interviews Co-Founder of Ocean Bottle, Will Pearson
Here at On In London, we love a sustainable company that has created a product that is making a difference. Ocean Bottle is a B Corp certified reusables brand. With the sale of each Ocean Bottle, 11.4kg of plastic (the equivalent of 1,000 ocean-bound plastic bottles) is collected globally, in coastal areas where plastic pollution is worst. The team work with plastic collection partners Plastic Bank, Plastics for Change and Repurpose Global to actualise this collection.
We spoke to the founder Will, to find out more…
What inspired you to create Ocean Bottle?
I spent a year working at sea as a deckhand, and seeing the scale of the ocean plastic problem with my own eyes, made me want to do something about it.
Whilst we were enjoying the pristine waters of the Maldives, the boat I worked on bought over 1,000 plastic bottles for drinking water for the guests. Once consumed they were taken off to an island called Thilafushi, where they were burned – it was just smouldering in the distance.
I met my Co-Founder, Nick, when we were sitting next to each other in our first lecture at London Business School. We made an instant connection around our passion for the environment, Nick’s desire to create a new impact business model that put mission first, and my interest in starting something to help solve the ocean plastic crisis.
It was there that Ocean Bottle was born.
How does Ocean Bottle contribute to combating ocean plastic pollution?
At Ocean Bottle, we’re committed to a simple yet impactful idea: every bottle we sell directly contributes to removing plastic from our waterways. When someone buys an Ocean Bottle, we fund the collection of the equivalent of 1000 plastic bottles and prevent this from entering the ocean.
We do this by working with plastic collection partners based in communities worst affected by the ocean plastic crisis, including Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Kenya, Brazil, and Egypt.
We invest in collection points and enable collectors to exchange plastic for money and get access to social resources such as healthcare, education and financial security. To date, we’ve stopped over 20,903,413 kilograms of plastic, equivalent to 1.8 billion plastic bottles from reaching the ocean.
What sets Ocean Bottle apart from other reusable water bottles on the market?
At Ocean Bottle, we don’t just sell reusable water bottles, we’re driving a movement. Our products symbolise what people are a part of and what sets us apart, is our commitment to real impact. Our mission is not a side project; it’s built into our business model and to date we have given over 15% of our revenue to impact.
Can you talk about the design of Ocean Bottle and how it reflects your mission?
Beyond our mission, our intention is to create products that last a lifetime. Each product comes with a 10-year warranty, as well as spare parts for life. We’ve also designed our products for disassembly so that they can be taken apart and recycled at the end of their life. We design with durability in mind, ensuring that our bottles are built to last and not contribute to the growing disposable culture.
Beyond sustainability, we like to say that our products are designed for actual everyday use. They are highly functional and versatile which means people can use them to cut down on their single use consumption across a range of applications. Making sure they also look good and are timeless is important to us, as it encourages people to want to use them for a long time.
What challenges did you face in launching Ocean Bottle?
Nick and I were 23 when we started Ocean Bottle and aside from a couple of internships, we didn’t have much work experience between us. The hardest thing without a doubt, was that when you’re starting out you have no resources, so we had to do everything ourselves – from design decisions and manufacturing, to finance, marketing, customer service, operations and sending out stock from the warehouse – we did it all! We were lucky to have some great partners who helped us take on a few areas of expertise, like working with incredible plastic collection partners to realise our impact and a Norwegian product design agency called K8.
Things haven’t all been smooth since getting through our launch year either, Covid was a tough ride for us and a lot of other businesses. Getting the right people in the team has been the most important part of our later success and we owe the credit to everyone who has worked with us and our community.
How do you measure the impact of Ocean Bottle?
At Ocean Bottle, transparency is not just a policy in a drawer, but a principle that guides our decisions. This approach shows us where we can make continuous improvements and means that measuring our impact is at the heart of everything we do.
We have created an impact platform called Ocean Co, which powers all of our impact and shows our customers where their plastic has been collected. It also allows other brands to do what we do and add plastic collection to any product or service. For example, Grind coffee have added plastic collection with us to every compostable coffee pod they sell, and Aqua Libra have added plastic collection to every refill from their Flavour Taps – allowing these products to go from reducing harm, to becoming net positive.
But how does it work?
Well, our collection partners record each kilogram collected, noting its plastic type, colour, location and even who collected it. These detailed and verified records are then sent back to us to match against our customers original order, where we can give them a detailed view of the impact they have funded.
What role do consumers play in the fight against ocean plastic?
It’s been amazing to watch our community grow since we started. We believe that individuals have the power to drive change, not just by reducing their own plastic consumption, but by supporting systems that prevent plastic waste from reaching the ocean in the first place.
We know how daunting it can feel though as an individual to tackle a global issue like climate change, or the ocean plastic crisis. That’s why we want to give people an easy way to make a real global difference.
And it doesn’t stop there. We are also evangelical about driving the usage of our product to drive behaviour change. We recently relaunched our Ocean Bottle app, which allows users to record their refills via the bottle’s NFC chip. Each time you record a refill, we fund the collection of five more plastic bottles.
It’s important to say that we don’t believe it’s the consumer’s responsibility alone to solve the environmental challenges we face. I personally want to live in a world where consumers are empowered with the information they need to make sustainable choices, and where businesses are held accountable for their impact on the planet.
What’s next for Ocean Bottle?
I love this question. It’s definitely what gets me out of bed every morning.
The next chapter is about scaling our impact and doing what we do even better, reinvigorating our brand whilst staying true to our DNA, and bringing out more innovative ways for people to make a global impact on ocean plastic.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs in the sustainability space?
If you haven’t started yet, I’d say pick a problem. Choose a massive global challenge and figure out a way of making a dent on this issue. If you stay true to your mission, you’ll be amazed at how many people want to help you and be part of it. Who knows, if your company gets big enough – maybe you can solve the whole thing.
If you’re already rolling then I would really encourage you to look at how you can embed even more positive environmental impact within your business model. I’m a big believer in the power of business to fix a lot of the world’s problems and consumers, businesses and your next recruits are all looking for this!
How can people get involved in Ocean Bottle’s mission?
Here’s the truth: we don’t want people who already own a perfectly good reusable water bottle to buy another. If it’s got a few dents and scratches, that’s a sign of commitment to refill and reuse – we love to see it!
But please spread the word to others and for those ready to start their reusable journey, Ocean Bottle is a simple way for anyone to make a difference.
Find out more > www.oceanbottle.co
