OceanCycle Cares
To address the needs of the people and communities at the front lines of stopping ocean plastics pollution.
HOW OCEANCYCLE CARES GOT STARTED
OceanCycle was built as a social enterprise to help set up recycling systems that incentivize collection of plastics in areas vulnerable to ocean plastic pollution. As part of that work OceanCycle runs a certification program to prove that material is ocean-bound (within 30 miles of a coastline in areas of mismanaged waste) and ethically collected (no child or forced labor in the system). This work requires extensive travel and engagement with waste picker communities that make their living off of plastic collection.
As part of our community assessments, we look at how people are working and living, we track their wages and ascertain the practices and perspectives around community waste management. In addition to waste pickers, this requires direct engagement with community leaders, business owners, school teachers and others who understand what the community needs and how best to address the issues the communities are facing.
Issues such as food insecurity, unsafe living conditions, lack of safe drinking water, barriers to childhood education and a lack of childcare for single parents are the norm. While some may not see these as directly tied to plastic recycling programs, we find they are critical to supporting the people and communities so they can focus on waste management.
“When people are hungry or in a survival mode it is harder for them to care about waste management and plastic entering the ocean” says OceanCycle Co-Founder, Robert Goodwin.
At OceanCycle we committed 10% of our revenue to go back to support waste pickers and coastal communities, but realize the need is far greater than we can meet on our own. As a result, we created OceanCycle Cares (OCC) to give a vehicle for our brand partners and others interested in making donations to help support this work.
PEOPLE ARE THE ANSWER
Our team has decades of experience running humanitarian response and development programs. We have seen a tendency for good meaning people to assume what people might need and how best to approach community programs.
The good news with OCC is that our programs are formulated based upon what we hear directly from the people who live and work in these communities. We also have historical data from repeated audits on wages, living conditions, and issues like food security that help us to baseline community needs and track progress over time.
Based upon our extensive data and experience here are the programs we established within OceanCycle Cares:
Health and Nutrition Programs
Example: providing meals and safe water systems to communities
Women’s Empowerment Programs
Example: Establishing daycare centers for children and microfinance loans to women entrepreneurs
Education Services
Example: Curriculum development for proper recycling and the basics of community waste management
Financial Assistance Programs
Example: Microgrants to support individuals and families in meeting basic needs and in times of emergency
Environmental cleanup
Example: Organizing beach cleanups and the collection of low value plastics
How you can donate to OceanCycle Cares
OceanCycle Cares has partnered with Framewrx International, a US based 501c3 Non-Profit focused on the “design, implementation and management of community driven international aid & development projects.” Through our established Fiscal Sponsorship agreement your donations can be made here.
