Yahoo Sports United Nations and Oceanic Global Hold World Oceans Day, Experts Discuss Impact on Beauty and Wellness Industry
“Emily in Paris” actor Lucas Bravo is heading to the United Nations Thursday as the organization hosts World’s Oceans Day.
Bravo, an ocean activist who will attend as the keynote speaker, told WWD that while he cared about the Earth’s resources and climate change from a young age, as both his parents were vegans, it took time for him to learn about ocean conservation.
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“I wanted to be involved for a long time, but you never know where to start,” he said, recommending others begin by educating themselves. “You need to start being curious in the beginning, follow the main issues and mostly follow the issue that vibrates with your heart, that creates a real injustice that makes you want to do something about it and educate your friends. Start the conversation.”
Bravo pointed to organizations like Look Down Action as places for people to start, as they offer pre-written emails to send to leaders.
“Everybody’s invited to the table when it’s about climate, when it’s about Mother Earth,” said Bravo, who flew in from Paris for the event. “It’s just about being curious in the beginning and communicate and educate people around you and then things will come naturally. This is how it started for me.”
He will be joined by “Aquaman” star Jason Momoa at the event, the theme of which this year is “Planet Ocean: Tides Are Changing,” meant to reflect that the Earth is made up of 70 percent water and directly impacts all humans.
“We wanted to connect every single person back to the ocean and highlight the amazing opportunities that the ocean holds…really highlighting humanity’s reliance on it,” said Lea d’Auriol, founder of Oceanic Global, which is cohosting the event with the U.N.
While the event will span topics including ocean literacy, human connection and industry responsibility, d’Auriol shared more details on the personal care category’s role in terms of ocean preservation, as well as the impact on overall wellness.
“The narrative that we like to take is the ocean impacts us in every single way. As humans, we’re also impacting that ocean in all of those ways, so really highlighting the interconnectivity of it,” said d’Auriol, noting the ocean’s benefits on mental health. “When you see blue, you see water, your nervous system comes down. There’s all these amazing stats related to it and we have a scientific advisory board that we work with around communicating the benefits of the ocean on human and mental health.”
While the ocean can have significant benefits on mental health, it is also being impacted by product development within the personal care category.
First off, ingredients found in the ocean, like algae, kelp and deep sea minerals, are driving product development in both the beauty and wellness category.
“We’re starting to utilize resources essentially from the ocean in the beauty industry, but the other side of things which is really important to also convey is what we are sourcing, what we’re putting on our skin and the fact that it is finding its way back into the ocean,” d’Auriol said.
With this in mind, sourcing nontoxic and nonpolluting ingredients is essential, as particles from personal care products ultimately make their way back to the ocean.
Key takeaways
The ocean plays a significant role in mental and human health.
The personal care industry is harnessing the power of ocean-based ingredients, like algae, kelp and deep sea minerals, for product development.
As product particles will inevitably make their way back into the ocean, sourcing nontoxic, nonpolluting ingredients and materials for formulas and packaging is essential.
