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Tree-Free Products Are Disrupting Big Industry and Saving Thousands of Trees · How To Protect The Ocean

0:00
Imagine trying to change an industry that has not shifted in a hundred years.
0:04
This is exactly what today's guest set out to do.
0:07
He looked at foam cups, plastic packaging, and tree race products
0:10
and said, we can do better.
0:12
And for almost four decades, he has been proving the sustainability is
0:16
not a trend as a system that can replace the waste we no longer need.
0:21
We're gonna be talking to the CEO of Emerald ovations.
0:24
Ralph Culley about all of his evolution in this business and the
0:28
communication education he provides his clients with on a daily basis.
0:33
We're gonna talk about that all in today's episode of the How
0:35
to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
0:37
Let's start the show.
0:40
Hey everybody.
0:40
Welcome back to another exciting episode of the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
0:44
I'm your host, and/or Lewin, Marine biologist, and.
0:46
Science communicator.
0:47
I'm here to let you know what's happening with the ocean, how you can speak up for
0:50
the ocean, and what you can do to live for a better ocean by taking action.
0:54
The How to Protect the Ocean Podcast is part of a podcast network called
0:58
the Speak Up for Blue Network, where we podcast with purpose.
1:02
And on today's episode, we're gonna be talking about business
1:05
for purpose with sustainability.
1:07
Ralph Van Colley is the CEO of Emerald Eco.
1:10
And he's here to talk about his evolution of starting this company and growing
1:15
it at big scales, like we're talking like millions of products in large
1:20
corporation hands, to be able to not only feel good about the products they use,
1:24
but also know that it is sustainable.
1:26
And we're gonna be talking about that.
1:27
Speaking of sustainability of treeless bait or tree free products, we know trees
1:32
are important, but we know seagrasses are even more important because they
1:35
can sequester up to 10 times more.
1:38
Carbon dioxide, then trees, like forests And so forth.
1:42
And so we need sea grass meadows, but to be able to need sea grass meadows,
1:45
just like we're gonna be talking about in this episode of communicating
1:48
how many trees a product can save.
1:50
We're gonna be talking about the sea grasses and how
1:53
much they benefit our ocean.
1:55
What science, conservation and restoration projects are out there on
1:59
the Seagrass Effect podcast, and we want to launch it, but we need your help.
2:03
If you want to join the crowdfunding project to help launch this
2:06
podcast, all you have to do is go to speak up for blue.com/seagrass.
2:11
That's speak up for blue.com/sea grass.
2:14
It's about time that we talk and educate ourselves about sea rests meadows and
2:18
their importance to not only us for climate change and sequestering carbon
2:22
dioxide, but also for cleaning up bays, making sure our coastal communities are
2:27
biodiverse, and making sure that they protect us from wave energy And so forth.
2:32
It's gonna be really great.
2:34
All you have to do is go speak up for blue.com/seagrass to check
2:38
it out and donate to the campaign when you donate to the campaign.
2:42
A portion of that donation goes towards restoring a seagrass project that we're
2:45
gonna be documenting through the podcast.
2:47
So go to speak up for blue.com/seagrass and help restore a seagrass meadow today.
2:53
Alright, let's get back into it.
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This is something that I feel like is really important because
2:57
we talk a lot about businesses that are in the startup phase.
2:59
This business is well beyond the startup phase and it's in action.
3:03
It's selling, it's scaling.
3:04
It's great.
3:05
And Ralph is on the podcast today to talk about.
3:08
Not only like the products that he sells and how the company
3:11
is focused on sustainable tree free compostable alternatives to
3:14
traditional paper and plastic products.
3:16
But he is here to talk about the education that he provides on a regular basis, not
3:20
just to new prospects, right, potential customers, but even the customers that
3:24
he has now, to let them know how much they are doing for the environment just
3:29
by buying these alternative products.
3:31
That's what's great.
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Imagine being able to say, Hey, just by buying these products,
3:35
we've saved 8,000 trees.
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That's the level of scale that that we're talking about here,
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and it's a large corporations.
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Ralph also talks about how it's difficult to change the behaviors
3:45
of legacy corporations that are not ready to change just yet.
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However.
3:49
He's not going to stop in trying to get them to change.
3:53
I think having somebody like this, like Ralph on the podcast, to be
3:56
able to perpetuate this message and to say, Hey, you know what?
3:59
There are businesses out there that are working at scale that are really changing
4:03
the world and we don't know about these all the time, and he's there to not only
4:08
communicate to his customers, but also to communicate to the world what he's
4:12
trying to do and how important it is for our world to be able to accommodate.
4:16
This and adapt of these types of products at scale.
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I think that's great.
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'cause a lot of the times when we look at things, we look at a lot of new
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companies that are in fashion or that are in like products such as these.
4:27
They're all in the startup phase and they're trying to get
4:29
going and trying to get going.
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But we're looking at a company that deals with large corporations
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that are buying at scale.
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They're buying millions and millions of products, and I think this is something
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that we need to hear more about.
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So I was really happy to have Ralph on the podcast.
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So without further ado, here is the interview with Ralph Manali, CEO, and
4:46
founder of Emerald e Ovations, talking about a company focused on sustainable
4:51
tree free and compostable alternatives to traditional paper and plastic products.
4:55
Enjoy the interview and we'll talk to you after.
4:58
Hey Ralph, welcome to the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
5:01
Are you ready to talk about all things sustainability and business?
5:07
Well, thanks for having me here, and/or and absolutely.
5:10
Ready to roll.
5:11
All right.
5:12
I'm looking forward to this.
5:13
I don't get to have a lot of, uh, business people on, people who own businesses,
5:18
entrepreneurs who own businesses that are very based in sustainability.
5:23
And Emerald e uh, eco is a business that is based around sustainability.
5:28
So I can't wait to dive in, like.
5:30
Why you started it back when you did in like 1997, how you've
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grown it, the evolution of the business, all this kind of stuff.
5:38
I'm looking forward to getting into, but before we do that, Ralph, why don't I
5:41
just ask you who you are and what you do?
5:44
Okay.
5:45
Well, um, uh, true blue plastics and paper individual that's been in the
5:51
business for almost four decades, um, wow.
5:53
Much of what I've done over the years is.
5:56
Work to help companies, uh, not only, uh, move forward in their business endeavors,
6:01
but, uh, looked at how things that we do every day, uh, particularly in the
6:07
business industries, we're in paper and plastics is like on the top of the
6:11
charts when we talk about sustainability.
6:14
So it's been a, it's been a great ride over the last three
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and a half, four decades.
6:19
Uh, but mostly what I am most interested in.
6:22
Is changing an industry that hasn't changed in a hundred years.
6:26
Mm-hmm.
6:27
Um, and it sounds easy, but it is a challenge.
6:30
And, uh, fortunately I surround myself with some very intelligent
6:33
people and, uh, we've done some great things over the last few years.
6:37
That's awesome.
6:38
So take me, take me back to 1997 when this vision of like reducing waste and
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everything started, where were you, uh, where were you at in, in, in life
6:47
in general and in business and, and how did this, all this vision start?
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You know, like where did it come from?
6:54
Well, my first, uh, real job was in operations and I ran food operations
6:59
for a large enterprise back in the late eighties, into the nineties.
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Um, I then.
7:05
Uh, decided to spin off into the supply side.
7:08
I saw opportunities where in the business world, what we were in
7:12
food service consuming enormous amount of products in disposables.
7:17
Mm-hmm.
7:17
When disposables wasn't a bad word back then.
7:19
Right?
7:19
Right.
7:21
Interesting enough, I decided to get into the supply side to see if
7:25
I can change that, that dynamic.
7:27
And, um, it didn't happen overnight quite honestly, but in the late
7:32
nineties I was, uh, spun off one of our business groups, which is in general
7:37
distribution and supplies mostly.
7:39
Food service, disposables, packaging materials.
7:42
All back then, when, if there's a younger audience may or may not
7:47
remember the days of the foam products.
7:49
Yes.
7:49
The foam products dominated the world.
7:52
Yes.
7:53
What I recognized was that these foam products were a problem, and I realized
7:58
that back in, back in the nineties and decided to spin off a business group, uh,
8:03
from Georgia Pacific back then and started what ultimately is what we have today.
8:08
But it's been a long road.
8:10
Um, and again, the changes that, uh, have evolved.
8:15
Quite honestly, it become much more apparent in the last
8:18
three to four years mm-hmm.
8:19
Than they have in the last 30 years.
8:21
Uh, but our objective is to change the consumer habits.
8:25
Uh, and to do that it takes, um, a lot of education, which
8:29
we lead with in our business.
8:31
So is is Emerald ovation's a B2B or a B2C type of company?
8:37
Or a little bit less.
8:37
Well, we, we, we tr we are a B2B business.
8:41
Uh, and what we do is we sell our materials, which is the finished goods.
8:46
Yeah.
8:46
We make over 370 finished goods in our alternative technology, which is, uh,
8:53
uh, actually it's fiber material that is utilized to make our finished goods.
8:59
That technology has evolved over the last 10 years for us personally,
9:03
Um, So we do sell to large business footprints, and the reason we do that
9:08
is because, um, we recognize it takes consumption in volume to really move
9:15
the needle in what we're all fighting for, how to save our planet, not only
9:20
the oceans, but the forest And so on.
9:23
So, yeah.
9:24
We spent a lot of time in the big business enterprises and
9:27
today we have some of the largest corporations utilizing our material.
9:31
Contrary to what we may hear companies are, uh, certainly, uh, interested in
9:37
changing their habits, uh, with, with.
9:40
Materials that aren't performing properly for the environment, and
9:44
quite honestly, it's the younger generation that's moving that needle.
9:47
We're seeing that acceleration in the last few years where the
9:50
decision makers are now in their late twenties, early thirties.
9:54
Yeah.
9:54
Who actually are very engaged.
9:57
What is a highly consumable essential, right?
10:00
Every time you go out to a takeout place or when you're utilizing stuff at home,
10:05
whether it's a towel or tissue products, um, these are everyday essentials.
10:10
Uh, but it's going to take continued education in order for us to.
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Um, make sure the consumer understands.
10:17
So, large enterprises, we get the biggest impact.
10:20
We're touching about 1.4 million consumers a day with our products.
10:26
So certainly, uh, that impact is being realized, uh, with some of the tool
10:30
sets that we provide our clients.
10:32
That's amazing.
10:34
You mentioned, you know, talking about like behavior changes, like it's,
10:37
it's kind of interesting when you talk B2B, you're talking to corporations,
10:40
you're probably talking to people who are purchasing your products.
10:44
One or two people, maybe a team of people that, that are engaged
10:47
with you, uh, and your sales team to, to engage with those products.
10:52
Does the education have to be to that team that you're selling to,
10:56
or the entire corporation or the leadership of that corporation?
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And I'll go on just to, to add to that, how are you being able to,
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um, sort of penetrate that market with your products compared to,
11:10
you know, plastics And so forth?
11:12
That's a great question, and/or, and uh, it really is, and there's probably
11:17
10 answers to that question, but, uh, lemme sum it up as best I can.
11:21
Um, yes, the answer is, uh, we do.
11:24
Present our platform to what we call C-level, uh,
11:28
decision makers and companies.
11:29
Um, they are the individuals who, uh, can break the barriers that
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are built into the supply chain.
11:36
Today, many legacy companies today have been around for a
11:39
hundred, a hundred plus years.
11:42
Yeah.
11:42
Um.
11:42
They're not changing their habits, they're still gonna continue using petrochemicals.
11:46
Mm-hmm.
11:47
Uh, they're still gonna be using toxins in their towel and tissue materials.
11:50
It's just part of the business model that they've built, Um, So these decision
11:56
makers are not, unfortunately, are not those day-to-day, um, purchasing agents,
12:01
which are important in the equation.
12:03
Mm-hmm.
12:04
Um, once they bring in the C levels, uh, they better understand
12:08
why it's very important to change the habits of what is a very
12:13
traditional old legacy supply chain.
12:16
Interesting.
12:17
Yeah.
12:17
I, I mean, it's gotta be, uh.
12:20
Frustrating.
12:21
At the same time as, as innovative.
12:23
When you start to bring these products to, to people, what is the
12:27
people who do decide to go with you?
12:29
What is the reason?
12:30
Are they they going, is it like a, a price point that they're going for
12:34
and like they don't really care about the sustainability as long as it
12:36
works well and everything like that?
12:38
Because I know some companies like, look, as long as the product is is working and
12:42
it's good for them and the price is there, then it, it'll work with you and it's just
12:45
a matter of, you know, your sales magic to kind of get to get them over the hump.
12:49
Or do they actually care about sustainability?
12:51
You mentioned like some of the younger decision makers, they
12:54
actually care about sustainability and they're very engaged in it.
12:57
Like is it a little bit of a balance or is that how it started out where
13:00
it's just like, price point, it works, let's go with it, And then of course the
13:04
magic of the sale of the salesperson?
13:06
Or is it like a little bit of like, no, we're engaged and and, and we wanna
13:10
see more sustainability because it's part of our vision as a corporation.
13:15
I don't wanna get too complex in what our business model really does
13:18
deliver to the clients, but I will give you the highlights, um, because
13:22
those are very, very good points.
13:24
Um, you know, we're not just a green product and there are a lot of folks out
13:27
there that say I'm using a green product.
13:30
Um, but when they actually challenge that supply chain of what that green
13:34
product is, where does it come from?
13:36
What is it made from?
13:37
Where does it go?
13:38
Uh, they never get a clear answer.
13:40
Um, it's, it's borderline greenwashing.
13:43
To many, many, many degrees.
13:45
Uh, that's something that I've, uh, been very adamant about in our company is
13:50
our, our business model is not only built on what is the finished product, it's,
13:55
but where did that product come from?
13:58
Yeah.
13:58
Uh, where.
13:58
Aggregators of the raw material.
14:01
And because we control the raw materials in these highly renewable fibers that we
14:06
aggregate across the world, um, in fact, we just built a plant in Arkansas that's
14:11
generating five tons of miscanthus, which is one of the fiber products we use in
14:16
our fiber, uh, uh, food service packaging.
14:19
Um, the point is, um.
14:21
We take it from the inception raw material, we control the
14:25
entire fabrication of that material to finished goods.
14:29
And because we do that, we are able to actually measure the impacts that
14:35
our clients are rewarded with when it comes to how many trees are saved, how
14:41
much water is saved, how much carbon reduction, because we control the metrics
14:46
of the materials and that separates us.
14:50
Clearly across every other kind of green product that's out there.
14:55
Um, but we're very proud to be the only tree free producer
14:58
of paper in the USA today.
15:00
Um, we're, we're advancing a technology that, um, is really at a very early
15:06
stage, uh, but your, your listeners and your whole, um, concept in the oceans
15:12
plays a, a huge role in this, right?
15:14
Yeah.
15:14
I mean, it's a, a direct reflection.
15:18
There is two largest sequesters of carbon.
15:21
The ocean is one of 'em.
15:22
The second is forest.
15:24
Yes, Um, So we are very, very, uh, in tune to um, why do we cut
15:30
trees down to make coffee cups?
15:32
Why do we cut trees down to make toilet tissue And no one can give us
15:36
an answer Um, So we took it to the next level Um, So we do not cut trees down.
15:42
Our water consumptions in the fibers are measured.
15:46
Uh, they run, they represent about 12 to 15% of what actually is being
15:52
used in most other kind of products, particularly resident based products.
15:56
So we're significantly less than water.
15:58
Our renewable fibers are harvested sometimes twice a
16:02
year, unlike trees, which.
16:04
Need 30 years to grow, uh mm-hmm.
16:06
With a lot of water.
16:08
Yeah.
16:08
Um, cutting those trees down is, uh, represents about 18% of the
16:13
sequestered carbon on the planet.
16:15
And, uh, we all know from basic elementary school trees give
16:20
off oxygen and take carbon.
16:23
Mm-hmm.
16:23
But there's a lot of other reasons as we get, um, into what we do as a company,
16:29
we really are consultants in the space.
16:32
Mm-hmm.
16:34
Soil erosion is a big issue in this country.
16:37
Um, you know, we're losing somewhere between 1.4 and 1.5 billion
16:41
tons of organic soil a year.
16:44
How does that get replaced?
16:46
Particularly if you're cutting forest and clearing, uh, you get runoff
16:50
and, and there's a lot of issues that we we're addressing, uh, as a,
16:55
as a company that I think messaging.
16:59
Your types of, uh, listeners and messaging the business world, uh, is necessary.
17:03
And part of that is the education.
17:06
I love that.
17:07
And the education is huge.
17:08
What type, what, like when you present it to, uh, someone who's about to buy
17:12
from you or, or like a per a perspective client, what type are you talking about?
17:18
Soil erosion.
17:19
Are you talking about the importance of trees?
17:21
Are you talking about how, you know, other, other, uh, suppliers might
17:26
be using, you know, products made from trees, plastics, And so forth?
17:30
Is that the type of education that you're, that you're providing, you know,
17:34
to the, to the, the prospective client?
17:37
Yes.
17:37
And in fact we do that every day.
17:39
Uh, it, it is all part of the reason, uh, in the business world.
17:44
We're talking to c-level decision makers, uh, because they, they understand
17:48
the magic of being able to not only utilize materials like this that
17:53
are very innovative, but be able to.
17:56
Um, you know, uh, be proud of the, uh, results they're getting.
18:00
Uh, the metric reports that we offer our clients are being used in shareholder
18:05
letters are being used, uh, to promote their, to their stakeholders
18:10
across all their business channels.
18:12
Um, those metrics are important and that is, um, the difference
18:17
between what we do as a company.
18:20
Education, uh, is widespread, and we have some very, very robust platforms.
18:26
We have an actual academy, which we have now close to 3000 graduates
18:31
that are industry graduates.
18:33
Not a traditional consumer, but folks who are actually making decisions in the
18:37
corporate world or those in the supply chain that actually sell our materials.
18:42
Um, that's, that, that is the envi, uh, Emerald Sustainability Academy.
18:47
Um, that is.
18:49
Very active.
18:50
Yeah.
18:50
Uh, we also have a podcast, which we just did recently.
18:54
So, um, we are communicating, um, yeah, as best we can in a very loud, noisy world.
19:01
So it's organizations and podcasts like yours, and/or, that needs
19:04
to spread the facts of what the differences is in environmentalists.
19:09
Well, and I, I, I completely agree with you.
19:11
I like how you're constantly providing different ways that people can
19:15
communicate or people could listen to the communication and the education that you
19:19
provide, whether it's a podcast, whether it's a newsletter, whether it's an email,
19:22
uh, whether it's in, you know, business.
19:24
Pamphlets And so forth.
19:25
Digital and, and you, you sending it over to, to customers and clients because
19:30
I mean, that's what is, it's really, uh, a, a, a thing like we, the people
19:34
need to be educated on the importance, on the urgency to go towards these
19:37
products and start using these products.
19:39
And I just love the scale that you're doing it at, uh, with large corporations
19:44
that would traditionally buy.
19:46
Sort of the, the, the regular products that we would get that are
19:49
wasteful and bad for the bad, for the environment, you know, tenfold.
19:52
Right.
19:53
You know, when you, when you look at this, probably even more Um, So I, I
19:56
really think that's an interesting thing.
19:58
When, when did you find that you were really.
20:02
You know, making a dent in the market, like, 'cause it's gotta be a difficult
20:05
thing to get in educating people.
20:08
'cause people are like, well this is just regular day stuff that we use.
20:11
Why do we need to do something different?
20:13
When did you really find that you were making that dent and getting people
20:18
to listen and understand like, the importance of using products like yours?
20:22
What's interesting stat is, um, 10 years ago, 3% of the actual
20:28
decision makers, consumers.
20:30
Um, uh, represented what we would today say is a tree hugger, right?
20:35
Mm-hmm.
20:35
Mm-hmm.
20:36
And so you fast forward a decade and it's still hasn't moved the needle that much.
20:41
Right?
20:42
Tree huggers are still less than 10%, right?
20:44
It's about 9%.
20:45
Um, So we don't need to focus on the tree hugger because they're committed.
20:50
Right.
20:51
Of course, when they hear about what we're doing, they're, they're all in.
20:54
Um, but it's the other 91, 90 2% that needs to be educated and the
21:01
difference between what they may think is a green product mm-hmm.
21:05
Versus.
21:05
What is a revolutionary innovative technology that is radically different?
21:11
Right.
21:11
And again, coming at a price points are very comparative.
21:14
Right?
21:15
When, where we, we bring in budgets that are, you know, within 99% of current
21:19
budgets and bring all this value add.
21:22
So, um, it's not about the money, it's about the education.
21:26
Yeah.
21:26
And for us to communicate that to, uh, individuals.
21:31
Uh, why we, uh, uh, point our interest in our con our, our, our
21:36
energies into the larger footprints is 'cause they make a big difference.
21:41
Um, you know, we have clients that are saving, you know, 8,000 trees a year.
21:46
Uh, you know, uh, I mean, you know, these are mul, these are
21:49
forest right that are being saved.
21:51
Yeah, absolutely.
21:53
These are real material differences and as we work in that marketplace,
21:58
we need to educate those decisions.
22:00
Those 92%, uh, don't, you know, believe so much in mm-hmm.
22:05
How they make a difference.
22:07
But that's our job.
22:08
Our job is to make them believe when they see the difference.
22:11
And, uh, that's the education.
22:13
And I love that.
22:15
Uh, I want to just dive a little deeper into this, 'cause I think
22:17
this is so fascinating 'cause such an important part of your business.
22:22
To change people's behavior.
22:23
You, you know, you mentioned like, yeah, we got the, the tree
22:25
hug as you're preaching to the choir with them because Yeah.
22:28
Hey, like, we know what we need to do.
22:29
We need to protect the environment.
22:30
We're gonna, we're gonna seek out.
22:33
You know, businesses that actually are more sustainable, that are
22:36
not greenwashing And so forth.
22:37
The 92 other percenters that, that we talk about, a lot of them are just going
22:42
through life because they have to go through life and they're just going with
22:45
whatever product is in front of them.
22:47
That's, you know, sort of the status quo kind of thing.
22:50
Um.
22:51
What is, is the, what sounds, what you're saying here is like you present them with
22:56
tangible measurements of numbers of, say, trees that you're saving or, you know,
23:02
num of, of, of like areas you're saving.
23:05
Is that, what is that What actually works is like you presenting
23:08
like by buying these products, if you buy this amount of, say.
23:13
Paper towels and utensils and, and toilet paper And so forth, you
23:16
are saving, you know, 8,000 trees.
23:19
Is that, does that come in with an order?
23:21
Is that like, those facts is, that's what's, you know, changing their mind
23:25
or making be like, Hey, this could go into a shareholder newsletter, or we
23:29
can use this to tell our, our staff and, and you know, sort of our customers
23:33
overall that this is what we use.
23:35
Is it those numbers that are actually working?
23:38
Well, there's two things.
23:39
Um, first I gave you a stat of the last decade of the changes,
23:43
uh, on those percentages.
23:45
Yeah.
23:45
What we are predicting over the next 10 years that we're going to see those
23:49
decision makers, because it's a younger decision making demographic, uh, we
23:54
think that's going to triple right, and they don't necessarily have to be
23:57
tree huggers, but they're going to be.
23:59
Very, very concerned about what, what their future is for
24:03
young, younger folks and their grandchildren and children And so on.
24:07
So we see that stat changing dramatically.
24:10
The second part of that is, yes, numbers do make a difference, right?
24:15
Um, uh, and, and we all know that.
24:17
And, uh, part of the algorithms that we built into our system, which
24:21
took many years and quite a bit of investment, um, uh, really demonstrates.
24:28
Clear and concisely to these decision makers and these companies, and
24:32
we got cruise lines, hotels, and, uh, major, you know, financial
24:37
institutions across the country.
24:40
Those numbers do make a difference.
24:41
Yeah, they are.
24:42
They, they hit home when someone recognizes, and when we do make our
24:47
presentations, we do give them, um, uh, hypotheticals on their impact reports
24:52
because we go in as consultants, we actually analyze their footprints,
24:56
analyze their consumption, analyze the materials they're currently using.
25:00
So when you add it all up, uh, they get an environmental impact report.
25:04
Who's going to say no to saving seven, 8,000 trees?
25:08
Right?
25:08
A hundred percent.
25:09
And, and, and don't get me wrong, there are a few that do, but yeah, when we
25:14
get those presentations, uh, we're awarded the business 80% of the time.
25:18
So, uh, it's interesting, um, it again.
25:23
There's an old, that old saying, and, and those are the, um, listeners
25:27
that may, may remember this.
25:29
There was a great saying back in the seventies and eighties that an
25:33
educated consumer is our best customer.
25:35
Yeah.
25:36
I, I tend to tell my folks, make sure you understand that is a fact.
25:41
The more you educate a customer, the more they're going to recognize
25:45
the difference between what you are providing versus everything else.
25:49
I love it.
25:49
I, I just think it's, it's, uh, I, I completely agree with you.
25:53
I think it's, it's a fantastic, you know, thought process when you go through, like,
25:57
do you have a team, like in your marketing department that's just, you know,
26:02
there to get the latest measurements.
26:05
Understand the product better, provide that communication, you know, the,
26:09
the, the podcast, the newsletters, all that information that, you know, making
26:13
sure the presentations are up to date.
26:15
Do you have like a team, like do you have scientists on there
26:17
too, like to, to talk about this?
26:19
Like where is the information coming from?
26:21
Well, you, you, you, you named about five different parts of our business, right?
26:25
Yeah, I think so.
26:26
Okay.
26:27
Uh, and, and, and thank god I don't have to wear all those hats.
26:30
Right.
26:31
But, uh, when it comes to marketing communications, um, you know, I think
26:35
we have the best team in the business.
26:36
Not because, um, I'm, I'm saying that I'm right.
26:40
Of course they are the most educated in a, in a technology that is rather new.
26:45
Right.
26:45
And they have a great way of communicating that, uh, and bringing it back down
26:50
to layman's terms, uh, because, you know, to answer your second part
26:53
is, you know, do we have scientists?
26:55
Well, we do r and d every day.
26:58
Um, right.
26:58
There is a lot.
27:00
To what it is we've done over the last 10 to 20 years.
27:04
Right?
27:04
Uh, uh, evolving from single products to 370.
27:08
Um, that means we need to understand every part of the makeup of the material.
27:12
So, uh, we own all the formulations, uh, based on all the r and d and
27:17
we're continue to do r and d.
27:18
We're gonna be rolling out some very interesting.
27:21
Packaging material for consumer packaging, uh, for major brands.
27:26
Nice.
27:26
That are very much looking to advance their image, uh, with their packaging,
27:31
along with their actual product.
27:33
Unreal.
27:33
So a natural product.
27:35
Yeah.
27:35
Chemical free product.
27:37
Uh, our new material's gonna be all of that, so they're gonna have
27:40
highly, uh, compostable materials made from tree free materials.
27:45
So it's, it's interesting.
27:46
We're constantly evolving so.
27:48
It's, I love that.
27:50
I love that.
27:50
Now, let me ask you this, I, I live in Canada.
27:53
Uh, is there any way that, that your products make it up to Canada or is
27:57
it just right now in, in the us I, you know, there may be products finding
28:02
its way into the Canadian market.
28:04
I don't know.
28:05
Uh, we do have some distribution in, in all parts of the country.
28:09
So in, in that case, they may, may go, but, um, we're always
28:13
looking, uh, to our neighbors north.
28:15
Yeah.
28:15
Yeah.
28:15
To our neighbor south.
28:16
Uh, we love you all.
28:18
And, uh, at the end of the day, it's, it, this is a global, uh, expedition, right?
28:23
For sure.
28:23
This is something where, um, if we can change the minds of the
28:26
consumers, they will change the minds of these legacy players.
28:30
Who, in my mind, I, I, is one of my goals.
28:34
Yeah.
28:34
Yeah.
28:34
To get these legacy players to adjust because we're never
28:38
gonna be as big as them.
28:40
Right.
28:40
And, but if we, if we can get the consumers to change their minds,
28:45
they'll get these big legacy players to do what we're doing.
28:48
They have the capabilities.
28:50
Yeah.
28:50
They just don't have the, uh.
28:52
The urge to do it yet, but they will.
28:54
Yeah.
28:54
And, and is there consumers that will provide them with that urge?
28:57
You know, you vote with your wallet a lot of the times, and
28:59
I think that's really important.
29:00
On the Canadian front, I think the biggest difference is you just have to have
29:03
packaging in French and English, and once you're there, you can come, come north.
29:07
So please consider that.
29:08
Uh, if you need help, let me know.
29:10
Uh, but I think that's something that's, that's really important.
29:13
I'd, uh, you know, Ralph, this has been amazing for you to drop by and, and
29:17
let us know about, about the products.
29:19
You know, you have.
29:20
Paper towels, plates, uh, napkins, toilet papers, bowls cut like coffee
29:25
cups, uh, like other cups, like I even ice cream cups like you get
29:29
out of, you know, I think Kleenex, everything like tissues, everything.
29:33
Uh, then it is all zero waste tree free, compostable, and plastic free.
29:37
I love what you're doing, not only for your company, but also for the planet.
29:42
And I wanna thank you for continuing to drive this market
29:46
and continuing to change it.
29:47
Because we know it's not easy and we know it's, you know, sometimes probably
29:51
like beating yourself up about it.
29:53
Try, try and get more and more, especially when you talk about some of these legacy
29:57
companies changing their minds, and I can urge you to continue to do what you do.
30:01
We will help you in any way possible, um, and, and love to, to have you
30:05
back on to talk more about any new products that you're coming on or
30:08
anything new you wanna talk about.
30:10
Uh, please let us know.
30:11
We'd love to have you back on and, and thank you for all the work you do.
30:14
Thank you And/or, and I encourage you to keep your, keep your audience
30:18
very, very educated on what's going on out there and the new things that are
30:21
there because you're absolutely right.
30:23
They change the minds of the legacy players every time
30:26
they buy something different.
30:29
Absolutely.
30:29
Thank you so much, Ralph.
30:30
Really appreciate it.
30:32
Great seeing.
30:35
Thank you Ra, for joining us on today's episode of the How
30:37
to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
30:38
Love what you have been doing for the last nearly four decades and are
30:43
gonna be doing well into the future.
30:45
You have a great team surrounding you.
30:46
You have a great team that's communicating a lot of great things
30:49
about the products and why it's important to have these products.
30:52
You have a podcast, which we'll link down in the show notes, and
30:55
you'll see throughout this intro and outro, you'll probably see the
30:57
footage of the types of products that they have and the environment
31:00
that they live in is always great.
31:02
If you are listening to this and you are a C-level suite person
31:05
who can make decisions on buying products for your corporation that
31:08
are sustainable, I highly recommend.
31:11
You go over to Emerald ovations, give them a call, get in contact, and let
31:15
them change your corporation's world.
31:18
I think it's really great to be able to do that.
31:20
So I think companies like this is what we need to talk about more because
31:23
they're changing the world, and I really appreciate them for doing that.
31:26
So thank you, Ralph, for joining us.
31:28
I wanna thank you for listening to us.
31:29
If you have any questions or comments about this episode, please
31:32
let me know in the comments below.
31:33
If you're watching this on YouTube.
31:34
And if you're listening to this on your favorite podcast app, apple, Spotify,
31:37
Amazon, whatever that might be, please get in touch with me through two ways.
31:42
You can go to Instagram and DM me on at how to protect the Ocean
31:46
that's at How to Protect the Ocean.
31:48
Or you can go to speak up for blue.com/contact, fill out the form.
31:52
It goes straight to my personal email.
31:54
Other than that, I wanna thank you so much, so, so, so much for listening
31:57
to this episode and all the other episodes that you've listened to.
32:00
Don't forget to subscribe and share these episodes with people that you love.
32:03
And you want to see change in a beautiful world that we can have
32:07
sustainable products at scale.
32:10
I wanna thank you so much for joining us on today's episode of the
32:12
How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
32:13
I'm your host Angela, and from the True Nord strong and free.
32:16
Have a great day.
32:16
We'll talk to you next time and happy conservation.