Ocean Bottle
Ocean Bottle
Selling water bottles supported the collection of 8,137,584kg of ocean-bound plastic
Imagine working on a boat, dreaming of navigating turquoise waters and arriving at paradisiac islands straight from screensavers. The problem: some of those islands became gigantic piles of plastic. The whole marine ecosystem is dying as a consequence.
During his time working on a boat, Will Pearson, Ocean Bottle's co-founder, faced this increasing problem and wanted to create a solution to collect plastic before it enters the oceans.
Enter Nick Doman, who has a passion for meaningful business. The future co-founders met during their masters and decided to create the bottle.
“Seeing stretches of water quite literally choking with plastic made me motivated to take action,” – Will Pearson
https://www.london.edu/think/iepc-ocean-bottle-a-planet-positive-success-story
“I was looking to redefine business and prove that we could fix global environmental and societal issues by putting people and the planet first.” — Nick Doman
https://www.london.edu/think/iepc-ocean-bottle-a-planet-positive-success-story
What they do
Ocean Bottle produces reusable water bottles made of stainless steel and ocean-bound recycled plastic. For every bottle sold, communities close to coastal areas collect 11.4kgs of ocean-bound plastic.
Collectors exchange plastic for money, giving them access to healthcare, education, and financial stability.
"Ocean-bound plastic is defined as mismanaged plastic waste (or MMPW) that ends up along coastlines and rivers and waterways within towns, cities and rural areas. When the seasonal rain arrives, this plastic gets flushed into the ocean often because of a lack of recycling infrastructure." —Ocean Bottle website [https://oceanbottle.co/pages/faqs]
Business Model
(Excuse my lack of skills)
Consumers and Partnerships buy ocean bottles (in black)
20% of the profits go to plastic collection (in green)
Collectors collect the plastic and exchange it for education, health care, and financial stability.
The plastic is recycled and part is used to produce more bottles.
Explain like I’m five
Bad companies use plastic. Bad people throw plastic on the streets. The wind pushes plastic into the ocean. Poor fishes eat plastic and go to heaven.
A good company sells water bottles and gives money to men and women to pick up the plastic, thrown by bad people, that are close to rivers and oceans. Collectors can now use the money and go to school, see the doctors and save some money to spend with their families.
Fishes and whales don’t eat plastic anymore.
The ocean is saved.
Areas of Impact
Ocean Health
Social Good
Climate Action
Saving the world
8,137,584 Kgs ocean-bound plastic collected
4,300+ families supported
2,500 mangrove trees nurtured
Impact page
https://oceanbottle.co/pages/ocean-impact
Let’s talk money
Ocean Bottle generates revenue by selling reusable bottles. Around 20% of the revenue is destined for plastic collectors.
I reverse-engineered their revenue and how much money was given to plastic collectors, considering how many kg of plastic has been collected.
To date
£3,800,000 given to collectors
8,137,584kg of ocean-bound plastic collected
£19,000,000 Estimated revenue *
* Assuming my estimations below are correct
The details if you have time and patience to read:
To date
8,137,584 Kgs ocean-bound plastic collected to date
8,137,584 / 11.368kg (collected for each bottle) = 715,832 bottles sold
715,832 bottles x £27 = £19 million total revenue
2021
2,421,952kg of ocean-bound plastic collected
2,421,952kg / 11.368kg (collected for each bottle) = 323,988 bottles sold
323,988 bottles x £22* approx. £7.1 million revenue
* assuming the average price of £22 for each bottle
2020
632,413kg of ocean-bound plastic collected
632,413kg / 11.368kg (collected for each bottle) = 55,630 bottles sold
55,630 bottles x £25* approx. £1.3 million revenue
* assuming the average price of £25 for each bottle
Partnerships
https://oceanbottle.co/blogs/news/rbed-ull-x-ocean-bottle
7,464,000 equivalent of plastic bottles saved
7,464,000 / 1,000 (1 ocean bottle = 1,000 plastic bottles saved) = 7,464 bottles requested by Red Bull Racing
If each bottle was sold for £20, this partnership had revenue of £150k
Moments that are worth all the efforts
and the not-so-good moments
Once, Ed Sheeran bought bottles for his crew. The bottles were leaking…
Save the world, join the cause
https://oceanbottle.co/pages/ocean-bottle-careers
Who started everything
Nick Doman
Will Pearson
What I watched/listened to/read to make this report
https://realbusiness.co.uk/plastics-pollution-ocean-bottle
https://www.london.edu/think/iepc-ocean-bottle-a-planet-positive-success-story
https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/ocean-bottle