Nick Doman

Nick Doman reflects on his "unorthodox" path from history student to co-founder of sustainable reusable bottle company, Ocean Bottle.

Your time at the University  

My years reading for my History MA at the University of Edinburgh were some of the best of my life and definitely transformative. While my degree has not been directly transferable to my work life since graduation, it has definitely given me a different and valuable perspective amongst my peers.

The opportunity to study abroad was what drew me to the programme and I took it with both hands. I went to the University of Connecticut in the United States, which proved to be as rewarding as I had hoped. I had the fortune to develop relationships in the States and amongst other international students – many of whom I am still close to!

Your experiences since leaving the University

My path since leaving Edinburgh has been pretty unorthodox – I decided I wanted to change tack immediately and embarked on a Masters in Management at London Business School. After which I started working in the investments team at Blenheim Chalcot – a venture builder. However, during my time at London Business School I had co-founded Ocean Bottle - a sustainable reusable bottle company – and in January of this year I felt that it was time to commit to it full time!

The purpose of Ocean Bottle is to fund the collection of ocean-bound plastic and we have committed to collecting at least 1,000 plastic bottles in weight (11.4kg of plastic) for each purchase. We do this with our partners Plastic Bank who formalise the plastic collection industry in Haiti, The Philippines, Indonesia and Brazil and pay their collectors three times market rate. Their work in these areas is incredible and to be able to support it has been the primary driving factor in our efforts. After four months of bottles sales we have funded collection equivalent to over six million plastic bottles and hope to be collecting three billion a year by 2023.

It has been amazing to meet and hear from Edinburgh alumni who are working in the sustainable impact space and I hope to meet many more!

​​​​​​​After four months of bottles sales we have funded collection [of ocean-bound plastic] equivalent to over six million plastic bottles and hope to be collecting three billion a year by 2023.

Say yes to any opportunity that may be of some interest and even some that aren’t. There may not be any obvious immediate pay-off but you never know what you might be doing 10 years from now.

Related links

Ocean Bottle (external link)

Social Responsibility and Sustainability at the University