Corporate Partner Profile: RIPL Goods
A Reusable Bottle that Helps to Fund our Waste to Wealth Project!
We are thrilled to announce our partnership with RIPL Goods, an innovative purpose-driven company that sells a range of products that fund employment and plastic collection in coastal communities.
Every RIPL Bottle purchased helps to fund the employment of 120 women and youth in India and the Solomon Islands. This initiative not only addresses plastic pollution but also provides sustainable livelihoods for these women. RIPL Goods is currently our biggest corporate sponsor for our Waste to Wealth program in India, and their contributions have been instrumental in our success.
Over 30% of RIPL’s total revenue was donated to PCFML in the 22/23 Financial Year.
We sat down with the wonderful Leo, RIPL’s founder to learn more about how and why he started this purpose-driven business. Continue reading below!
What inspired you to start RIPL Goods?
“Having started my career in advertising, my favourite projects to work on were always the pro-bono campaigns for charities. So after leaving the UK, I wanted to use those skills to have a positive impact, but didn’t know what. After visiting Bail and seeing the impact of plastic pollution there, I decided I wanted to do something to contribute to a solution.
But it wasn’t until moving to Byron Bay and falling in love with freediving that I stumbled on the idea of creating a product for ocean lovers and using the profit to fund employment and plastic collection in coastal communities”
Why did you decide to support PCFML’s Waste to Wealth Program?
“A combination of your team and your approach. Firstly, it’s great to support people who are so passionate about the mission and believe in it wholeheartedly. Secondly your approach to tackling the plastic problem by focussing on the human side of things – empowering communities and supporting underrepresented groups – is something that really resonated. At the end of the day, it’s not about statistics, it’s about lives, livelihoods and nature.”
Supporting PCFML is about more than cleaning up waste and preventing ocean plastic. It’s about uplifting entire communities through employment, education and creativity.
What is the best thing about running an impact-driven business?
“Besides the obvious one of knowing you’re working on something important that’s making a real difference in people’s lives and to the environment, I find that people you work with genuinely get on board to support the mission. Having that kind of encouragement and support from suppliers and customers makes it a really positive work environment, even when projects don’t go our way.”
“The Mothership”
Leo Bellis-Jones @leo_underwater
What is the biggest thing you have learned in your RIPL journey so far?
“I reckon it’s the power of storytelling. Understandably, people only support what they connect with, and they only connect with what they experience. Most people can’t go to the Solomon Islands, India or Bali to see the impact that plastic pollution is having on communities and the ocean first-hand, so the next best way is to bring that to life through photography and film. Then once you have that connection, on the whole, people really do care and want to help.”
Congratulations on applying to become a B-Corp Certified Business! What was the process like?
“As such a young company, submitting our B-Corp application was a huge deal. It takes a lot of resources but having that stamp of recognition will hopefully help us stand out in a field that unfortunately is crowded with a lot of dubious sustainability claims and greenwashing. It also helped focus our attention on areas of the business that weren’t a priority when trying to get a small business off the ground but will become increasingly important over the next few years. So as well as looking back at what we’ve already achieved, it’s given us a great framework for how to structure the company’s operations in the ‘right’ way as we grow.”
Thanks, RIPL! Partners like YOU make our work possible!
Thank you, RIPL Goods and Leo, for your incredible support and dedication to making a difference in the lives of the communities we work with. Your dedication to creating a business with the future of our planet in mind is truly inspiring, and we are honoured to have RIPL Goods as a major corporate partner.
Image captured by @leo_underwater.