credit: project BLUE
Meet Vipe Desai, Founder of project BLUE (Interview)
project BLUE is an initiative by seven of the leading brands in surfing, who have come together to develop a co-branded, limited edition product line from which a part of the proceeds go to the non-profit Surfrider Foundation. I got a chance to ask some questions of the founder, Vipe Desai, and get a little background on the project.
Can you tell us what inspired you to bring these surf companies together for Project Blue?
My inspiration for project BLUE was one part my involvement in the surf industry and one part inspiration from Product Red. I've been involved with Surfrider for a while now, going back about 15 years. My involvement started out on a local level when I owned the H2O surf shop in Sunset Beach. Many years later, I was working at the youth brand consultancy, Propaganda HQ, and Surfrider was a pro-bono client. After working with Surfrider in that capacity for a number of years, I was asked to join their national board of directors.
Regardless of any single surf brand's image, one thing always remains true; surfing is based in nature. Take away clean ocean water and you take away surfing. When I saw the success of Product Red, I thought it was a very cool idea and something that could really be embraced if we brought it to surfers. Give surfers an easy way to plug in and help out a natural resource that's important not just to the surf community, but the global community.
When I conceived project BLUE, I was trying to think of a way to help raise funds for Surfrider in a way that leaned on the organization as little as possible. By empowering the brands to create and market the project BLUE products, we're taking a lot of the heavy lifting off of Surfrider and utilizing the existing resources the surf industry already has in place.
Was there a specific incident or issue in ocean conservation that spurred the formation of Project Blue?
I wish there was one moment in time I could mention, but really it was a culmination of my passion for surfing combined with my career. As surfers and beach lovers, we're immersed in nature. Ask any long time surfer and they'll probably have a few friends who've gotten sick from surfing in polluted water, if they haven't themselves. Despite our best efforts, many beaches still are littered with trash, either from people leaving it behind or coming out of the ocean from other places.
The floating garbage patches we see out there are incredibly worrisome. You're readers are probably well aware of them, but any that aren't should check online for pictures and info. Images of those garbage patches are insane!
Given the competition within the surf industry, what was the big catalyst that brought these brands together?
As an industry, we're based in the pursuit of fun and a certain lifestyle, but there's a business side of the equation too. We just tend to do business while wearing sandals.
Many of the brands in project BLUE were already doing something for Surfrider before I came to them with the project BLUE idea. When I approached them individually, they all saw the power for change we could have as a collective. It was almost too easy.
Will you share with us the most difficult part of the process for finding a common ground between the competing brands? The easiest part? A lot of people think getting the brands to commit would be the hardest part, but in reality, that was the easiest. There was almost no hesitation when we approached them. The brands saw the value.
The most difficult part of project BLUE is the ongoing coordination. We have seven brands right now acting as project BLUE licensees. That's seven product categories to update season-by-season, produce marketing materials for, collaborate with on PR, etc. The administration is quite a lot of work.
Considering that overconsumption in general is producing huge amounts of waste, how can a line of products that targets consumers buying new gear be good for the environment, regardless of the amount of donations received for Surfrider?
That's a really great question and one that we don't get asked enough. The goal of project BLUE is NOT to get you to buy a new backpack or t-shirt. At project BLUE's core, we're driving support for Surfrider, ideally with financial resources, but also in terms of awareness through our marketing.
Few things last forever, especially for active people such as surfers and beach goers. When it's time to upgrade your gear, we'd like you to consider items from the project BLUE lineup.
What materials are the Project BLUE products made from?
We want our partners to cut waste where they can and many are incorporating reuse and recycling into their product categories. Billabong and DAKINE's project BLUE offerings are both made from recycled plastic bottles. Billabong recently learned that more than five million bottles have gone onto become Eco-Supreme Suede, the fabric they're using for their Recycler series of boardshorts. That's a lot of bottles. Likewise, check out Reef's NWS sandal. It's designed to minimize waste in the production process. It's not made from 100 percent recycled materials, but it's a great use of design to minimize impact.
The loop isn't closed yet, but we're trying. If everyone tried a little, you'd see some real change.
Wouldn't it be better to just have these brands donate money without producing a new line of products, given that buying the latest style or fashion is behind most purchases of new products?
A lot of these brands already do contribute to Surfrider on their own, which is fantastic.
However, people are going to consume. We're not going to stop that... either they'll do it because they need to replace a piece of clothing or they want something new.
Like I said, project BLUE is more than just the products. True, our tagline is "You buy. Your beach wins," but it goes beyond that down to an awareness level about issues of concern to all of us. Also, it's a misconception that we're adding to consumption. DAKINE is going to continue to make great bags and people are going to keep buying them, regardless of if project BLUE is around or not. So if DAKINE takes two bag styles from their existing lineup, one for men and one for women, adds a project BLUE logo and changes the colors, they're not creating more bags, just tweaking an existing model to benefit Surfrider.
If surfers weren't financially supporting Surfrider enough before, what makes you think that Project Blue will change that? Philanthropy is a mature subject matter. Giving, without receiving, is hard for many people to grasp... that's why fundraising events give away tote bags and other tchotchkes to people who donate.
project BLUE makes it easy to support Surfrider. Unfortunately, not everyone who loves the beach is going to participate in clean-up efforts, either organized or by simply by picking up one piece of trash on their way out. But like I said before, you're eventually going to need a new t-shirt, watch, etc. So why not buy one that gives back to a cause you care about.
Can you give us a concrete example or a specific project that demonstrates how the funds from Project Blue have made a real difference?
The money donated isn't tracked in that fashion. It goes into Surfrider's unrestricted funds to be spent as need be for their initiatives on an ongoing basis. I can tell you that so far, we have donated more than $140,000 to Surfrider.
How can the average joe participate, other than buying the products?
There are so many ways, especially in today's modern age. First, you don't have to be a paid supporter of Surfrider to help their cause. Check your local chapter's site on Surfrider.org, find out when their next beach cleanup is and volunteer!
People are reading this interview online and chances are they belong to at least one social network, so link back to it there. While you're at it, email your friends too! Got Twitter? Follow us @betruetoblue and Tweet this interview. Throwing the SocialVibe badge on your blog, MySpace or Facebook profiles is free to do and another way to help the cause. Hayden Panettiere, from "Heroes" does that!
What's next for Project Blue?
Oh man, so many things. We're in the early stages of a non-partisan political campaign called Vote the Ocean, and you see this new program come to life thru Twitter at @votetheocean. At its essence, we'll be helping people get educated about how their elected constituents vote on coastal related issues. We're going to bring on some new partners to the program too, but it's too soon to say who yet, so stay tuned!