Ben Battell visited two beaches with completely different ocean life. One was completely clean while the other was holding on to its life from the amount of waste in it. This prompted Ben to start a business where he could reduce the amount of plastic that finds its way to the ocean. Did you know that if you spend 80 years in life while changing your toothbrush every three months that would be 240 toothbrushes in a lifetime? These small but significant changes are what Ben from Bahasa of the Sea is trying to make. Listen in to find out how.
What is your purpose and who do you work with? Bahasa of the sea is a concept that I came with after I’d been in Bali for a few months following living in Northern Australia. First thing I noticed when I got to Bali was the difference in beaches from Australia. Beaches in Australia are pretty clean and pristine which is quite the opposite in Bali where there are plastics, plastic bags and the sea life is disgusting. When I got back to UK, I was inclined to start something that promotes ocean health and awareness of these issues to help people make small but significant changes in their lives to promote the health of the ocean environment. I started the first intro product which was toothbrushes because I noticed plastic toothbrushes are all over the beaches. We now have more products like water bottles and coffee cups. What is your business superpower? For me, its integrity. It’s caring about the environment and trying to be truthful, open, and honest with our products and with our ethos as well. Our brush packets say reduce, reuse, recycle, upcycle and I think that is key for us. From the start we’ve had a pledge of donating 1% of our profits to charities that support the reduction and removal of plastic waste in the sea. How does Bahasa of the Sea engage its staff, suppliers, and customers with its mission and purpose? The first thing that I always do is that I’m upfront with suppliers. For example with our bottles, the first packaging came wrapped in plastic wrap inside the box and I told them that I didn’t want any plastic near my products. They were really happy and helpful and now all our products come wrapped in tissue paper which keeps it nice and safe. What has been your biggest struggle so far running an ethical and sustainable business and how did you overcome it? For us, the struggle has always been communication and sending the message across to people. Simple steps in your daily life make a big difference like trading your morning coffee cup for one that’s not going to be thrown away after you’ve had your 5 minutes time with it. We’re trying to communicate that to people in a simple and easy to understand way. We don’t want it to look like it’s a foreign problem. If you could offer ONE piece of advice which could help our listeners with their purpose, what would that be? For me, its talk to everyone you meet. People are very receptive of ideas and just need the catalyst of someone speaking to them or mentioning something to get these ideas to come to fruition. I think that’s really important.
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