BUSINESS EDU Part 1: How To “Blue” Your Business in 2025 – And Make More Green – by Gil Zeimer, ScubaStoryteller.com and Zeimer.com, San Rafael, CA
Since becoming a PADI Open-Water Diver nearly 40 years ago, Gil has been published in more than 25 scuba mag- azines, newsletters, and websites about his experiences from Australia to Aruba, Hawaii to Mexico, and California to Florida.
There are many things we can all do in 2025 and beyond to “blue” your business, i.e., make it more environ- mentally friendly. Most of these are quite easy to accomplish. Better yet, by following these suggestions, you can make your business more successful
just put them in a recycled paper bag to ship them? By the way, I love my PADI 85% recycled plastic Unisex Wahoo Rash Guard that‘s composed of recycled fishing nets and recycled plastics from the ocean. It keeps my skin safe from sunburn with SPF 50+ material and provides a bit of warmth while swimming and snorkeling. 4) Install Solar Panels on Liveaboards to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint – When you’re at sea, you’ve got nothing but sunlight surrounding you, with plenty of extra “bounce” from the water surface for optimal solar panel power. These can help you burn less fuel, reduce generator time, and di- minish diesel fumes for your passengers. 5) Only Sell Reef-Safe Sunscreen –– I’ve been wearing
by currying more favor with your customers. Here are the first seven “blue” initiatives to consider: 1) Reduce Plastic Use – Instead of providing plastic water bottles on your dive boats, dive shop, and resort that may accidentally end up in the ocean or landfills, offer your customers paper cups for any beverages you provide. The Clines experienced this on their Grand Cayman trip in September.
reef-safe products with high SPF and long-lasting water resistance (up to 80 minutes) for a few years now. Some even have “mineral” ingredients, such as zinc oxide to provide you with a “white face” as an extra layer of sunburn protection. In fact, Stream2Sea has just introduced the world’s first sunscreen, Coral Care, that nourishes coral: RSS products don’t include nanoparti- cles and microplastics like exfoliating beads, or other detrimental ingredients that can cause coral bleaching. They’re gaining popularity with divers, snorkelers,
You can also ask your clients to bring their own thermos bottles when booking their dives and remind them of your policy via emails and on your website about your continuing efforts to reduce plastic use. 2) “Blue” Your Events – Host an event like “Blue Friday,” which we introduced in last month’s issue, with the slogan “Don’t Shop. Dive!” on what is traditionally Black Friday. This can give your business a blue halo by embracing the environment and letting your customers enjoy a day in the
PADI Rash Guard Made From Recycled Plastic.
ocean instead of elbowing each other at the mall. You can also invite local press to cover your ‘blue’ event as any media exposure is beneficial in many ways. 3) Increase Sustainability by Reducing Packaging Materials – All scuba-related businesses can take a page from leading companies like Amazon, Patagonia, Calvin Klein, ASOS, Allbirds, and others. They’re leading the way in promoting sustainability and environmental responsibility by using recycled materials in their clothing, promoting re- cyclable packing paper, and utilizing smaller boxes when possible. For example, why do fin manufacturers have to wrap their products in plastic and place them in a box when they can
and swimmers worldwide, especially in popular tourist des- tinations where they’ve enacted sunscreen bans, such as Palau; Hawaii; the U.S. Virgin Islands; Key West, Florida; Aruba, Bonaire, and parts of Mexico. You can find a list of Reef-Safe Sunscreens here. 6) Volunteer for Debris Clean-Ups – Marin Scuba Club participates annually in the California Coastal Commission’s clean-up. For the 40th anniversary of this event, our group of 18 members and friends were among more than 46,000 volunteers at nearly 750 sites statewide, who picked up nearly 200 tons of trash and recyclable materials. It only takes a few hours once a year to give back to your community like this and feel great about what you accom-
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