Cassia Patel: Program Director at Oceanic Global

MUSE recently interviewed Cassia Patel, the Program Director at Oceanic Global. Cassia talks about Oceanic Global’s mission, the ban on single use plastics in Ibiza, plus Oceanic Global’s upcoming relaunch of their standards and certifications.

Update: The Oceanic Global launched the Blue Standard in the fall of 2021.

What is Oceanic Global?

Oceanic Global is an ocean conservation nonprofit. We focus on inspiring people to care deeply about our oceans, which we are profoundly interconnected with, and to recognize that humans are a part of this living, planetary system. We offer tools for individuals, businesses and events to take action to protect our oceans, and to be a part of the driving force stewarding our planet.

We drive the concept of scalable behavior change. Namely, what you're doing within your own sphere, your community, your family, your business, or your event. There are actions everyone can take that inspire everyone within their ecosystem. We have two pillars. One focuses on the grassroots side, like beach cleanups, community events and educational film screenings. We have regional hubs in New York, the Hamptons, Los Angeles, London, and Barcelona, where volunteers self-organize.

The second pillar is focused on business and events. We engage directly in support by offering open source resources including step-by-step guides to improve their practices. We focus on plastic and waste, which we see as a gateway for action in other aspects of operations. Ultimately, we offer tools that empower people to be leaders in their own community, as well as working with major corporations to create change from the top down.

Oceanic Global’s focus on events, in particular, to create change is wonderful. How did this come to be?

Our founder is Lea D’Auriol, and her background is in event production. The organization started when Lea organized an ocean optimism themed music and arts festival in Ibiza. It included a speaker and education series, workshops, eco-marketplace, and kids’ activities center. This event sparked ideas, connections, and eco-businesses. After this event, the island of Ibiza announced a ban on single-use plastics that will go into effect in 2023. In fact, I just got back from an OG retreat in Ibiza, where I got to see everything in play.

Wow. We’re excited to hear more about the plastic ban.

In January of 2021, they rolled out a series of waste bins which are color coded. These uniform bins have been distributed throughout the island, and allow the separation of glass, paper, cardboard, plastic and organics. They just opened a new recycling facility, as well as a composting facility, which is being upgraded to an industrial compost facility. We don’t have an industrial compost facility in New York City, so this is really quite an achievement.

We’re also working with two of the Aeolian Islands in the Mediterranean. They also banned single-use plastics, and we’re working with local consultants, and the community, because the ban is in place right now. They go door-to-door to all the businesses to confirm compliance, and also to find solutions if they need help.

Because there’s no commercial compost facility on those islands, we’re encouraging people to shift towards reusables wherever possible, and to have dishwashing infrastructure in place. Or, to use materials that can be home composted like paper, fiber, palm leaf, and wood.

What other current projects is Oceanic Global working on?

We’re excited about the relaunch of our program currently called The Oceanic Standard. It will have a new name, a new look, and will be translated into many different languages. The new standards will be relevant for all types of businesses, and we’ve tried to make it as user-friendly as possible. It’s going to be interactive and web based, so you can click through the sections that are relevant to you, and you won’t get hit with 40 pages. The updated resources and best practices go beyond plastic and waste, to integrate things like food sourcing, and using non-toxic cleaning products.

Some of this revolves around asking vendors, suppliers, partners, caterers, “Is this your most sustainable choice?” If you're the one who's responsible for making orders, or purchasing, ask your suppliers if there’s a more sustainable option. The more the suppliers hear about the demand for more sustainable products, that actually shifts the way that larger suppliers work, we can collectively shift the market. We can also ask if the event materials can be repurposed for use at other events. Or, do we really need certain things, or can we remove them, or find alternatives?

We have a sustainability verification system that’s desirable from a marketing and communications perspective. And, the way we grow the program is by training consultants to best assist and guide the participants. Plus, we train the consultants, for those who are interested in stepping into that role.

Update: The Oceanic Global launched the Blue Standard in the fall of 2021.

The badge system definitely helps events make better choices and stay accountable. Where does the Oceanic Global certification fall in comparison with the other certifications?

Our certification is designed to be more accessible and welcoming to events and businesses that want to do the right thing, but don't know where to start. We try to make it cost effective, with a lower barrier to entry. That said, it’s more formal than self-certification programs. It's not something that a business just voluntarily signs and sends over. We conduct an assessment to make sure they’re doing everything. We look at the waste hauling receipts, and where possible we'll have a consultant do a walk through on-site to make sure that the proper infrastructure is in place.

For this reason, we award badges after the events. We need to make sure nothing happens on the day of the event to compromise the sustainability of the operations, like if plastic water bottles accidentally appeared when they planned on using only reusables. We offer help along the way, so we fall into a sweet spot in terms of price, accessibility, and support.

What is one, simple thing that readers do to help your mission right now?

Oceanic Global is running a petition campaign in response to COVID asking events, restaurants, national parks, and businesses to reopen with reusables #ReopenWithReuse. Because reusables are safe with proper dishwashing and sanitizing protocols in place, we’re asking people to sign on to say “I feel safe with reusables.” We lost so much momentum in the reusables and plastic-free movement in March of 2020 when there was a panic to shift back to single use plastic. There are so many other ways to prioritize health and safety, without using single use plastics. We’re approaching 8000 signatures on that petition. Our goal is to get to 20,000.

Sign the petition.

Additionally, Oceanic Global collaborated with hospitality industry leaders, public health experts including the CDC, WHO and FDA, policy-makers, and nonprofits to develop COVID-19 safety related sustainability guidelines for businesses in the hospitality industry. Download the guidelines.

Are there ways that people can get involved in person?

Sure, anyone can join one of the regional hubs. Here’s another opportunity, Oceanic Global partnered with Corona, USA on their Protect Our Beaches campaign. The goal of the campaign is to clean up 100 beaches and remove 100 million pounds of plastic from our businesses and beaches by 2025. People can volunteer at any of the 20 cleanups this summer. Volunteers can see first hand what's ending up on our beaches.

I understand that each minute, the equivalent of a dump truck full of plastic goes into the oceans.

Sadly, from new research earlier this year, the number has increased to two garbage truckloads of plastic every minute, from new research earlier this year. There are remote islands that nobody lives on, that are covered in plastic. Throughout the world, we don't have enough infrastructure to manage all the waste that we're producing. And so it's not always intentionally dumped, but it's just not being fully captured, and so the ultimate solution is to stop producing it in the first place.