“Humans are the only species on this planet to create what is known as garbage. We’re the only species that creates materials or products that cannot be reintegrated back into a natural ecosystem. So we are in a very unique position to have that responsibility to be able to manage these products and manage these materials.“
— Chloé Dubois, The Ocean Legacy Foundation
In this episode
Chloé Dubois of Coralus Venture The Ocean Legacy Foundation joins Activator Karley Cunningham to talk about how the company’s mission, the problems they solve, their impact to date, and becoming a Coralus Venture.
They also discuss:
- Taking small actions towards causes that you care about
- Finding a community who can help you
- Plastic depots acting as hubs of education, build relationships
- How to choose great partnerships and finding commonalities
- Representation and diversity when finding solutions to the plastics problem
We invite you to join us as an Activator.
Take action and engage with The Ocean Legacy Foundation:
Connect with Karley on LinkedIn.
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Podcast Transcript:
The podcast is being transcribed by Otter.ai. (there may be errors, run-on sentences and misspellings).
Chloé Dubois 0:00
Humans are the only species on this planet to create what is known as garbage. We’re the only species that creates materials or products that cannot be reintegrated back into a natural ecosystem. So we are in a very unique position to have that responsibility to be able to manage these products and manage these materials.
Danielle Cadhit 0:24
Welcome to the Ripples of Radical Generosity podcast by Coralus, a global community of women and non binary people making real progress on the world’s to do list. Together, we’re transforming the world to become more equitable, and sustainable.
Karley Cunningham 0:43
I’m Karley Cunningham and I’m thrilled to be guest hosting this episode of the Coralus formerly SheEO podcast. I am a Coralus activator and the founder of big bold brand, where we help motivated entrepreneurs and business owners accelerate the growth and success and impact of their businesses. We work at the intersection of business development, brand strategy, communications and marketing. And we co create with agents of change visionaries, innovators, and paradigm shifters. Those who charged towards difficult challenges and get excited about tackling the impossible, building the unimagined to create a more equitable, sustainable and healthier world, just like you all here in the Coralus community. But enough about me, this episode is all about introducing you to the ocean Legacy Foundation, a 2020 to Coralus venture, and here to tell us all about it is co founder, Chloe Dubois. Welcome, Chloe.
Chloé Dubois 1:39
Thank you so much for having me today. It’s an honor and pleasure to share a little bit about our organizations I’m pretty excited for for this platform. Thanks for having us.
Karley Cunningham 1:50
I’m very excited about this conversation, because having spoken to another one of our ventures, Elaine Leung, I know just how important this problem is to solve. And so rounding that out with this interview with you. I think it’s gonna be really informative for our community.
Chloé Dubois 2:04
Yeah, I love Elaine. She’s great.
Karley Cunningham 2:07
I figured I figured you two were probably in the ocean. Yeah. Yep. And, yeah, two, definitely very vibrant women, creating change. So let’s talk about ocean Legacy Foundation. You’re a recognized leader in plastic pollution response with a mission to end ocean plastic waste. Can you tell us about the problems you solve and for who?
Chloé Dubois 2:30
Yeah, we are focused on ending the plastic pollution crisis. And over the last decade, we’ve been working really hard on creating an integrative program, which merges education, policy and advocacy work, infrastructure development, and hands on cleanup. And this is our response program that is encapsulated into our EPIC program. We really believe that the epic challenges that are facing humanity in our in these times require epic solutions. And within our organization, we’ve developed a unique platform, which merges the blue economy and the circular economy together, where we’re creating, rewarding, fulfilling skilled employment opportunities, economic development, as well as merging that then in creating critical infrastructure to capture plastics, and then re circulate them back into a closed loop system.
Karley Cunningham 3:31
There’s a couple of pieces that I want to pull on in there, because some of our listeners may not have heard the term blue economy. Can you talk about that?
Chloé Dubois 3:40
Sure. So it’s really creating economic opportunity, with a conserving our marine or aquatic ecosystems.
Karley Cunningham 3:50
Brilliant. That’s awesome. And talk about closed loop.
Chloé Dubois 3:53
Sure. So in our culture today, it’s based on take make waste. This is a broken system, which has defined the way that humans consume, and how they then discard items at their end of life or after we’re done using them. So what this means it looks at a cradle to cradle system or a closed loop system, which means at the end of life of a product, we take that product or material or resource, and then recirculate that back into a system that can then re manufacture and remake durable long term goods with that same resource. So what this does is it allows us to conserve the amount of materials or resources that we extract from our natural planet. It also allows us to start to lower our carbon footprint, because we’re recirculating those carbon sources back into that closed loop system.
Karley Cunningham 4:51
Amazing. That was awesome. That’s probably one of the best ways and most accessible ways I’ve heard it explained to in a long time. So thank you for digging into that problem. Let’s Talk about the big problem of ocean plastic, and I going to pull on something you said and ocean waste is, I imagine that some people listening might be thinking, Oh, ocean waste comes from just people on boats, or people doing their job on boats and throwing things or losing things overboard. But I know that’s not necessarily the case, maybe you want to use plastic straws or something else as an example, to illustrate how effectively even those of us who are inland are causing the ocean plastic problem.
Chloé Dubois 5:31
At this point, it’s estimated that about 80% of the plastics that are entering into our aquatic ecosystems are from land based sources. So you know, in conjunction with marine fishing equipment, which is about half of what’s being estimated to be out in our ocean ecosystems, you know, the other half is composed of oftentimes, single use disposable plastics, you know, any kind of product that is produced and mismanaged, we can eventually expect to find out in our natural ecosystem in Canada, but this happens, you know, all around the world, plastics escape our waste stream, and they leak into the natural environment, often ending up in stream or creek environments, which then push these materials out into larger bodies of water, oftentimes than ocean ecosystems. So this is where we’re finding a lot of the materials that then get captured into gyre like ecosystems and get recirculated kind of around and around until they eventually make their way back on shore, or grow enough organic matter in the ocean that they sink. So, you know, it’s estimated that I think over 90%, now of the plastics that have, you know, been estimated to leak into the ocean have actually sunk. So what we’re finding on our shorelines is just a very small fraction of what’s estimated to have, you know, entered originally into these ecosystems.
Karley Cunningham 7:02
Yeah, absolutely. I’m afraid we think about the bottom feeding creatures and animals and those that feed on those, you can definitely see how it comes back up through the ecosystem, and really quite terrifying ways. So all that said, What do you want listeners from this episode? And especially the Coralus community? What do you want them to know about the plastic problem that might inspire change in action within this community?
Chloé Dubois 7:25
I thought about this quite a bit, I think an interesting point to make. And what captures my imagination, because I love to stay curious is that humans are the only species on this planet to create what is known as garbage. So really think about that, you know, we’re the only species that creates materials or products that, you know, cannot be reintegrated back into the natural ecosystem. And so we are in a very unique position to have that responsibility to be able to manage these products and manage these materials. And when I think about it, or when I converse with others, and we think about just how massive this problem is. And when we think about all the challenges, you know, that are facing humanity right now of these epic proportions, it can feel so overwhelming, almost to the point of paralyzing fear or anxiety. And I think it’s at that point, you know, where the human mind needs to push this away, because it’s too much. And in that point, it creates, you know, inactivity, and just more stagnant energy, where people don’t know what to do, they don’t know where to start. And so I think what I would love the community to take away is that to really push through those emotions, push through that, you know, overwhelm, and that feeling is to take action. And you know, where do you start. So I recommend to people that are experiencing this kind of level of overwhelm, to reflect on something that you’ve been dreaming about, or something you feel passionate about, it doesn’t necessarily have to revolve around plastics, but something that really grabs your attention, and then just take a really small step and just do something about it. It could be a very small action, like today, I’m going to walk to the store, and then you know, and then from from that action, it can start to snowball and grow into larger and larger impacts. And this won’t, I mean, it might seem small at first, but it will inspire you to do more, it will help dispel this, you know, overwhelming feeling of overwhelm and inactivity or stagnation. And it will also help to inspire other people in your community to start you know, feeling like taking action is manageable. Even you know if it is small, growing into a larger impact. That’s how I got you know how I started was so Seeing a problem really, in my heart knowing I wanted to do something about it, and then not knowing where to start, because it’s so big, but just picking something small and working on that, you know, and then adding to that, and then allowing that to snowball, and then growing that out and really finding your support, finding people that believe in the same thing, and want to make a difference in a cause that you feel passionate about.
Karley Cunningham 10:26
Yeah, brilliant answer, one of the things you said, reminded me of an experience that I had. And it was, my wife and I were out for a walk in our neighborhood. And there’s a couple who take their dog for a walk, and they carry one of those long handles and making a motion here Chloe can see me doing things like opening and closing those long handles, garbage picker uppers, all this data as a technical term, and a garbage bag and they walk around the neighborhood and they and they pick up the waste in the neighborhood. And if we think about how close we are to streams, well, that that limits how much rolls downhill, so to speak, or close downstream. And so that inspired my wife and I and every once in a while she’d be like Kate, we’re going to clean up the stream. And so literally two of us wait waiting up to our you know, shins, knees, whatever the dog comes with us. And we we go and it’s shocking what we actually find in that stream. It’s, it’s, I mean, it’s saddening, but taking those small steps, it adds up to big things. And in my research for this episode, and this conversation with you, something really big stood out to me. And that was some of the statistics that ocean Legacy Foundation has affected or impacted or created as a result of your actions. And so I just wanted to touch on those because it paints a really great picture, especially in this thread of you knew you wanted to do something you started taking small actions. And are we in 10 years later now? Just over a decade.
Chloé Dubois 11:48
Yeah, well, I think we’re just under Yeah, I think, eighth or ninth year.
Karley Cunningham 11:52
Okay. So coming up on this decade, which is a huge milestone for any organization, you have collected over a million and a half pounds of marine debris. From over 670 kilometers of shoreline, you’ve diverted over a million pounds of that million and a half pounds from landfill. And you’re different than most cleanup groups, because between 60 and 95% of the debris you collected is reused coming back, because that circular economy conversation that we were having earlier. And you partner with more than did you say 50 or 60 groups now around the world?
Chloé Dubois 12:28
Yeah, between 50 and 60 different organizations and entities, probably an underestimate.
Karley Cunningham 12:33
That’s amazing. Those are two big numbers. So let’s chat about those stats. Let’s talk about what a million and a half pounds of marine debris looks like.
Chloé Dubois 12:43
Each little cleanup that we do, it adds up over time, you know, and and I think that million pounds, I think one of my colleagues was actually comparing that to about the size of 16 or 17, blue whales. So yeah, it definitely adds up in volume. The impressive thing about plastic plastics and their pollution is that the weight doesn’t do justice. You know, plastics are very light in weight very and can be larger in volume. And so at this point, I wouldn’t even know really how to quantify the volume of that. But it’s it’s an incredible amount when we think about just the amount of space that all of these materials have taken up
Karley Cunningham 13:22
and stolen away from, you know, natural, the natural world effectively.
Chloé Dubois 13:28
Hmm, yeah. And, you know, we’ve been working really hard on developing tools to mitigate the pollution from occurring to begin with. So that can look like working on different levels of government, to what we’re building right now, with so many different partners and concerned citizens is our depot program. So creating focused hubs or spaces for people that are participating in Shoreline ocean, or marine industrial cleanup, to bring those materials to these hubs, so that we can prevent these materials then from re entering the natural environment either as pollution or working with industry, once they’re done using ropes or nets or traps, there’s a spot that they can bring those materials to to continue to prevent the pollution from occurring in the first place. So we’re really excited to roll out and continue growing our depot program across the province of British Columbia. And it’s inspiring because it also acts as hubs of education. So, you know, people come in and use our depots, they get to learn about ocean plastics, the effect and impact those happen in the natural environment. And it’s a place to build relationships, so communities, meeting other people in the community talking about the issues and sorting their materials together. So it’s a great place to build capacity and to also build those relationships and community.
Karley Cunningham 14:50
And it also sounds like a great place for people for the first couple times they come to be inspired by others seeing other people taking action thinking that they’re not an island of the only person who cares
Chloé Dubois 15:00
Yeah, exactly, totally Yeah, you,
Karley Cunningham 15:02
you led me to talking naturally segwaying that to let’s talk about your differentiator, your blue ocean strategy, if you will, as an organization, the fact that you have innovated ways to reuse between 60 and 95% of that debris you collect, tell us a little bit about what materials you’re creating, and how that affects and encourages others to participate in the circular economy.
Chloé Dubois 15:28
Sure. So in 2016, we, you know, after years of already doing cleanups, something that my colleagues and I, we were really discovering was that, you know, you invest so much time, money resources into going to some very remote complex terrain locations where these, there are these vast concentrations of plastic pollution or marine debris, to remove that, and then to come back with these materials to then see them go into landfill. So another spot, that they’re just re entering back into the earth. And we really wanted to see something different happened with these materials. So we started really focusing on investing time and energy into trying to do things differently, you know, with the materials were collecting, learning what resin codes, they were learning the hydrocarbon bonds, and you know, how we can start to size reduce these materials and what we can add to them? And how do we process these types of materials. And what that ended up leading to back in 2016, was our first collection program that we started developing. And from that place, we started realizing that some of the materials we collect are so obscure in shape, material thickness, I mean, we find, and we’re given so many random, like, you know, so many random items. And so we really had to start refining sorting processes. And then from that point, we’ve started developing our own kind of technology to process a lot of these materials. And what we ended up doing was re pelletizing, a lot of these materials in house. So we focus on polypropylene, high density polyethylene. And at the end of this year, we’re actually expanding into processing nylon materials, which is really exciting because in our community, there are no nylon processing solutions. Most of these materials are being exported to Europe. So this allows us to start to create local jobs, recirculate these resources back into a localized economy, within our community. And it allows us to start to reintegrate these materials back into new durable products that can be used. So those are the resins that we’ve started focusing on. And then we also work with third party recyclers as well. So the polystyrene materials that we intake, we work with a recycler that takes those for the tires that we collect rubber recycler will take those. So we’ve really fortified or catalyze an entire processing network for ocean plastics or plastics that are collected from Marine Operations.
Karley Cunningham 18:09
Amazing. So let’s contextualize it for our listeners. So the pellets that you’re creating, what types of companies are, I assume, purchasing them off of you? And what are they? What kinds of things are they making.
Chloé Dubois 18:21
So we’re having to develop this whole sort of niche market for these materials, which has been challenging and really exciting at the same time. So some of the products we’ve been testing and developing so far are focused in the outdoor recreation sector. So looking at manufacturing boats, work boats, kayak accessories, we’ve also engaged with the aquaculture sector to make crab gauges, oyster gauges, so that people know when they’re harvesting, when to put something back. So it’s a tool for conservation, which has been wonderful. We’ve also been exploring or dabbling in potentially the the automotive sector, as well as testing materials for textiles and clothing, as well as urban infrastructure. So there’s a few products there that we’ve also been testing. So lots of diversity in really the sectors that we’ve been able to touch with our products. And we’re still in that pilot kind of phase of seeing really where this can go and the impact that we can have with this product.
Karley Cunningham 19:27
One of the cool things I picked up on when you were talking about the crab gauges to make sure that you know, those that are fishing or harder harvesting, I think was the word that you use. If they’re too small, they’re being put back in. So in my mind, it’s the circular circular economy because it’s got a double, a double use there and helping protect the blue ocean as well. So that was really cool. And what I heard in there, too, was about partnerships. And I know from our conversation from also reading a lot about ocean Legacy Foundation that partnerships are key and critical for what you do throughout the day. obsess. And I think for entrepreneurs and business owners or executive directors, one of the biggest turning points. And a challenge to get into that turning point is, is learning how to develop partnerships. And so can you share with us a little bit about your journey and how you’ve gone about determining when to partner and also how to vet great partners for your organization. Totally.
Chloé Dubois 20:27
So this is a really interesting topic for myself personally, but also for our organization, because plastic pollution really encompasses so many complexities, you know, from plastic manufacturers, product manufacturers, I think, what we’ve learned in our work, and what across the board, what everyone can agree on is that plastic pollution should not exist. And so finding a common thread amongst stakeholders that might have very different approaches, and potentially even values in the way they do business. Finding that that sort of golden thread that can bring everybody together on a platform that can Springboard you towards solutions is absolutely critical. So what we focus on in the organization is finding those commonalities, we might not agree on everything, even the approach on how to achieve ending, you know, the plastic pollution crisis. But there are underlying things that I would hope that we could agree on. And we focus on those things. When we’re dealing with plastic pollution, everybody needs to be involved, plastics touch every nook and cranny of this planet. And the long term implications to human health are contentious and unknown at this point. And the implications that it has on the degradation of the environment are vast and well proven. So it’s important that everybody’s voice is represented at the table. And, you know, how do we problem solve and get there so that people feel heard and represented when we’re coming up with solutions, to really face and solve some of these dynamic challenges that we’re facing a key takeaway that we’ve learned through this, and especially doing international development work often. And what I’ve observed is that when we’re developing projects or initiatives, oftentimes, the community that is either going to be affected by the project or plan isn’t involved in the development of the project or plan, and this is 101, should not be happening. But this is standard practice, kind of across the board. You know, when we look into United Nations, or even in into E NGOs doing international work, it is absolutely critical that all voices are brought to that table and the development of these initiatives are founded, and then the actual needs of the communities and the unique environmental parameters that need to be considered when developing these projects or plans. So that’s sort of the approach that we’ve taken, we do a lot of deep listening, Ken critical totally. And that is, you know, listening. And communication is a founding principle of how we should move forward in the world, not only I think in, in building partnerships and relationships, and doing the good work, but also in your own personal life, and how we move through the world and how we build, you know, relationships in our own lives, and then how that kind of ripples out. So that’s value that we hold really dear in the organization. And it’s something that we use to cultivate and continue to grow the work that we’re doing in our own community, but then also abroad and internationally.
Karley Cunningham 23:41
It sounds like you’ve learned well, something that one of my sales coaches teaches and repeats a lot, which is, you have one mouth and two ears, use them in proportion.
Chloé Dubois 23:53
Yeah, exactly. I like that.
Karley Cunningham 23:56
So once you’ve found those partnerships, where you’ve linked the golden thread together, you found a common set of values or a set that you can agree upon to operate under. Talk to us about nurturing those and building upon those relationships. What is one or two recommendations for once you’re all at the table and you’re all moving forward? Then what
Chloé Dubois 24:16
depending on the scope and scale of the project, but it’s important to have tools in place or etiquette that everyone’s agreed on, to use in times of conflict. So in times where everyone’s not seeing eye to eye, how are you going to navigate through that in previous projects that we’ve done? As cheesy as it sounds, we’ve created like a family values board, you know, that we can use collectively across, you know, multinational corporations down to grassroots organizations, and in our own organization, creating that platform or that sweet spot between sort of that top down approach and that grassroots activism is really where we Find the ability to navigate through a lot of the intricate relationships that we are building and really refining those tools. every project, every location, every relationship is so unique. So really establishing some like underlying tools or like etiquette that you’re going to use to move forward is, is has been really valuable for us in doing our work.
Karley Cunningham 25:26
Yeah, definitely. When I facilitate I call it setting the rules of engagement. Exactly. Yeah. Fantastic. That’s super helpful, because I want to focus in so our community really understands what it is you do in the in the four acronyms of epic, and also where what I would like you to talk about as we walk through the P IC, the epic acronym is how can our community get involved in those or maybe there isn’t one, but maybe you want to focus in on this is the one where you should definitely come volunteer or donate or whatever that looks like. So let’s start with E.
Chloé Dubois 26:01
Sure. So Epic is the acronym that we’ve chosen to kind of build our programming around, and the E, it starts with education, knowledge is power. And looking at our education department, we’ve now created a free E Learning Resource Online, that’s a 15 hour curriculum that people can participate in, all around the world, it’s in three different languages English, French, and Spanish. And it’s from this base of building the foundational blocks of understanding of, you know, how plastics are even created, how plastics reach our aquatic ecosystems, you know, how we spoke about earlier about how, you know, the journey of plastic pollution and how it reaches the ocean? So really going through that knowledge and understanding right down to breaking down the circular economy? What is it how you can participate in defining what that system is, it’s 10 lessons in total, and the first five are really setting that foundation. But then what we’ve really heard from, you know, people that are interested and passionate about this topic is okay, I know all these things now, you know, what do I do with this information? And so the next five lessons are focused on taking those building blocks and then applying them into action. So we’ve got a lesson around how do you create your own recycling facility or program? You know, how do you talk to media and create community and support around your cause? What is a policy what is a plastic pollution policy, what a policies could apply in my community? So really looking at breaking breaking those barriers down and understanding around policy that is better often felt or found when dealing with developing policy and working with governments, so making that language accessible, and tangible, you know, even have templates in there, if you live in a democratic society, like this is a letter you can use to reach out to your local MP or MLA, and how do you engage politically, so lots of really great tools. And it’s a curriculum that we built over the last two years with leading experts in the field and really happy to be offering that and I think that is really a starting place for the Coralus community to dive into the issue. There’s lots of great movies to watch and different tools to to download and incorporate into taking those, you know, step by step changes in making a difference in plastic pollution. And then we also in the education component, you know, we do school presentations and hoping to get that curriculum really dovetailed in with broader public school education. So working with, you know, high school to young adults to incorporate and learn sort of the principles of what we’ve put together.
Karley Cunningham 28:57
That’s fantastic. I dug in a little bit when I was researching, and I got into under the hood, and I was like, wow, this is really robust. So that’s just the E. Now I understand why you’ve called it epic. I can tell that that no moss grows under Chloe. Talk about the P. What is the P stands for an epic? Yeah, so
Chloé Dubois 29:17
the P stands for policy and advocacy work. And this is a really exciting department for us where we get to work with all varying levels of government from local municipalities to provincial to write up to federal and then into international communities. So this is kind of a platform for us to vocalize or advocate for policy recommendations that we feel would help solve the plastic pollution crisis. So things like advocating for deposit return systems, extended producer responsibility systems, which are when we take the onus of paying for these waste management systems and put that back on the producer. So how The industry paid for part of that programming, which we’ve been advocating for select marine equipment to become incorporated into EPR systems for years now. So that’s just an example looking at recycled content mandates. So something that would stimulate the industry overnight, as if there were incentives for companies to use content created from recycled materials or to to legally mandate the use that, you know, X amount of recycled material has to be incorporated into any new product being produced. So really looking at how to stimulate the plastic circular economy, creating tools for its success, and then working with government to start to incorporate those into reality and into new systems.
Karley Cunningham 30:46
One of the things that you said that surprised me is you said, it’s really exciting to develop policy and work with government, I’m glad. And thank you so much for doing that work, because that I would just run for the hills versus the assigned to a project like that. So thank you for that work. It definitely needs to be done.
Chloé Dubois 31:04
I mean, I find all the departments exciting. It’s kind of like my brain on
Karley Cunningham 31:08
your brain on Epic.
Chloé Dubois 31:10
Yeah, exactly. There you go, our new slogan.
Karley Cunningham 31:13
So talk to us about the I in epic.
Chloé Dubois 31:15
Sure. So the I is infrastructure development at one of our fastest growing departments, it is a place for the capturing infrastructure and the actual physical shipping containers, roll off bins, the processing equipment, that’s where all of these pieces come in to, you know, capture the materials that are being produced, and ensure that they can then get reintegrated back into a circular economy. So this, you know, the infrastructure component is key, in order to really reduce the amount of plastics or eliminate them from entering into the natural environment, in addition to mitigating, you know, problematic single use plastics to begin with, but creating that infrastructure that can then create the mechanisms for the circular economy to work are just as important. And there is a massive lack of capacity across the entire planet right now, in terms of being able to capture the amount of plastics being produced, you know, we’re looking at over 450 million tons of plastic being produced every year. And that’s just anticipated to continuing to increase. So without the infrastructure component, you know, our oceans don’t have a chance. And so, you know, capital investment needs to be made by, you know, government, but also the brands producing a lot of these plastics. And we really need to be working with sort of a global oversight in terms of how we can capture globally, you know, these hotspots, some of the largest hotspot zones, and get those materials back into productive means.
Karley Cunningham 32:54
So you got one more, and that’s the C, what does the C stand for
Chloé Dubois 32:58
the C stands for cleanup and restoration. So this is where ocean legacy started, was really focused in cleanup. And, you know, we started going out with some friends, and really seeing the impacts of plastic and started organizing large scale, you know, expeditions, and then that kind of snowballed into becoming a registered nonprofit organization. And now that we go to some incredibly remote locations now with very complex terrain, and organize industrial scale removal of these materials, so oftentimes, it’s the most remote places that are the most polluted because Because humans aren’t there to provide that stewardship, plastics continuing to wash up from the ocean waters, or aquatic ecosystems, and oftentimes, they’re ecologically sensitive with endemic species. Oftentimes, it’s these locations that need the most help. So we like to focus in those locations and to get staff and people out there.
Karley Cunningham 33:57
So when you say people out there, is this a place that our community can volunteer?
Chloé Dubois 34:02
Yeah, often when we work with brands, we organize sort of larger cleanups, with those brands, where we incorporate their staff into a cleanup. So it’s kind of tailored depending on the group and where they want to go and how much time you have. Once you’re out there, you want to stay out there because it’s, you know, more resource efficient and effective to spend longer out there. And once you’re there to get as much as you can out,
Karley Cunningham 34:28
well, maybe you and I all need to turn one of the North van hikes into a North van cleanup.
Chloé Dubois 34:33
Yeah, sure. I’m into that for sure.
Karley Cunningham 34:38
That sounds awesome. So talking about the Coralus community with regards to your becoming a venture this year. Can you share with us your reflections on becoming a part of the community and how that has positively affected both you and also your foundation?
Chloé Dubois 34:53
For sure. Yeah, I’m joining the community this year has been such a privilege and honor I’ve learned so much already, I feel like we’re just getting started. But you know, anywhere from different private sessions that have been offered to my team, to improve stress relief to joining different activation sessions, learning new tools, the mentorship that’s been offered, it’s been such a unique way to continue to enhance our impact and our ability to respond to the challenges that we’re facing in our work. So it’s been totally a such a blessing and amazing. So thank you for the opportunity.
Karley Cunningham 35:34
Yeah, absolutely well earned with everything that night. So we’re talking about the numbers of the impact, I’m curious about something that completely surprised you about this community, whether it’s you asked and ask, or if someone stepped down or someone reached out to you,
Chloé Dubois 35:46
I’m not sure if it’s a surprise, but something that that’s really affected how I feel in the community, is just the connection and depth that can be created with women and non binary folks that are living their passion, and experiencing, you know, some of the challenges that come in being an entrepreneur, and just the support that I’ve been able to feel and experience just in the onboarding, you know, in the community onboarding sessions, and that sort of thing has been powerful. It has allowed myself and my colleagues to feel, you know, like, we’re not the only ones going through a lot of these issues. And it’s been great to just connect with the amount of diversity that is in the community, and just so many problem solvers. And and people constantly thinking and how to connect resources and grow the network. And it’s just such a again, like an honor to, to contribute to that. And to be a part of something that every woman or or non binary person can can really benefit from, is being part of a community like that. I wish
Karley Cunningham 37:03
our listeners could see the expression on your face, because I can, I can see I can see the the gratitude, but I can also see the sense of awe. And I’m right there with you. And one of the things you said is, you know, in this community because there’s this unsaid trust that happens very quickly, you go deep, so so quickly. So before we wrap up this conversation, in the spirit of radical generosity, do you have an ask for our listeners and the Coralus community?
Chloé Dubois 37:30
Hmm, something that we are really working on right now within ocean legacy is connecting our pellets to new buyers. So we are looking at this point to partner with new brands and products that could use recycled content within Canada but also abroad. So looking at new products, and aligned valued other businesses that really are looking to start to incorporate the principles of the circular economy into their own business, but not really knowing where to get started, but are interested. I would love it if you reached out. So yeah, we could talk about how to incorporate recycled content into your products. Perfect.
Karley Cunningham 38:15
So if you know of a company that is looking for plastic pellets, if you know of a company who might not be but you think, hey, you know that their principles are aligned, maybe give them a nudge, ask them if you can make an introduction to Chloe, and how can we make these introductions and reach out to you? What’s the best place to reach you?
Chloé Dubois 38:34
You can email me at my first name Chloe, [email protected] You can visit our website at oceanlegacy.ca. And on our website, the office the phone number is on there. So if you want to give us a call, feel free to give us a shout. Or you can stop by if you’re in the Steveston harbor area in Richmond, British Columbia. We always love visitors
Karley Cunningham 38:58
love that, who gives away their phone number and says come on and just walk in the door. Come see us. I love that. I love that it definitely speaks to your personality. Thank you so much for this great conversation. Chloe, all of us here at Coralus appreciate your taking the time to share about your venture and we wish you all the success. And you know we’re all here for those asks.
Chloé Dubois 39:17
Amazing, thank you so much. Really appreciate the time.
Danielle Cadhit 39:23
Thank you for listening to the Ripples of Radical Generosity podcast. Let us know what you thought of the episode and share this podcast with your friends. We invite you to join a global community of radically generous women and non binary folks at www.coralus.world.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
