Oneprime World

With his experience of working in the construction and energy sectors, the realization that these industries are major contributors to current, severe, global, environmental challenges had left Augustus Joel considering himself a part of the problem and partly responsible for unsustainable conditions found in his country of Trinidad and Tobago. As an entrepreneur, he has had successes and failures; all considered as learning experiences. Now, he has decided to make a difference, focusing his energies on being part of the solution as the team lead for Oneprime World. His vision-driven approach to this project has, thus far, caused it to progress steadily and the impact is continuing to influence the local community.

Oneprime World focuses on providing solutions that promote balance between man and the rest of nature. 

What Oneprime World intends to do is, firstly, promote sustainable models of consumption such as moderation and even minimalism. Secondly, we promote the use of minimal packaging, organic products and sustainable materials by the solutions we seek out to replace easily disposable and single use items through a platform that searches for and spreads awareness of these solutions. The platform is two-fold; information and products and services. Information is gathered through interviews with the providers of the solutions about their nature friendly products and practises. These products and services will the be made available through an online store. We intend for this to be a closed-loop operation where the disposal of items is reintegrated back into Oneprime World to be recycled.

In the Caribbean, 80% of the populations live in urban areas. With current, popular practice and the lack of proper waste management, the excessive waste generated is inadequately disposed of and causes pollution on land and in the sea. This excess is generated by the popular cultural paradigms of consumerism without regard for resources.

The project has three parts:

1) Source information that explains why nature friendliness should be desired and publish this information on a nature friendly online site.

2) Source materials and products that are nature friendly and make these products available through an online store.

3) Create a logistics systems that will be able to deliver the solutions worldwide as well as accommodate a closed-loop system for recyling and other waste management purposes.

Oneprime World is in the process of developing a nature friendly platform and logistics system that produces products to the benefit of our community and their environment. The platform (mainly online) will provide information on life style changes and a variety of products that can be used to help individuals on their journey to becoming more nature friendly. The system also accommodates for the disposal of the recyclable packaging that will be in use. This makes living nature friendly a bit more convenient for everyone.

Phase 1: The nature friendly community in the Caribbean.

In the Caribbean, there is a small percentage of people that are aware of the impact they have on the environment. Our intervention thus far has revealed that these individuals require information and education on how to expand their reach and make the necessary changes. 

Phase 2: The Nation of Trinidad and Tobago

Pollution is a global problem however,  we are based in Trinidad and Tobago and this will be our HQ for the dissemination of information. We believe many people are unaware that their consumer habits are negatively impacting their living spaces.  As we continue to support the nature friendly community, our focus will be to expand the community by educating and informing the public, making the same solutions more convenient and available/accessible.

Phase 3: Integrate the region

The network of solutions and logistics should be able to expand regionally to the same effect: less consumerism and more conservation and moderation.

Starting a company is a labourious process. Researching to create a vision and mission exposes one to vast paradigms of information. After months of analysis and debate, the team realized that traditional business are more of a problem than a solution. It was decided that this business would deliver solutions and that one of the biggest problems we were facing as a whole was the degradation and abuse of the environment. 

At first, a plan was created to provide biodegradable and eco-friendly food packaging and utensils. Then it was discovered that disposal of these items caused the same problems as traditional materials. Then, an analysis of how much waste is generated by this industry forced a halt on all operations. It was decided that providing more waste was not a solution. 

Finally our vision became much clearer; to care for the earth. This includes the promotion of the preservation of nature and the balance of natural systems. As humans are also part of nature, the solutions presented would have to benefit both mankind and the environment. But the environment can only benefit if our habits change. Thus, we opted for a grass roots approach as per our current proposition.

We love nature, and in our search for meaningful impact, it became apparent that the environment and the natural processes sustain us and we must in turn, learn to sustain it. We understand the need for development however we recognize an imbalance that is causing much suffering globally. It is our hope that our actions can make a big difference. 

This is our home where we were born and raised. Our goal is to protect it and preserve as much as the biodiversity as we can. We love what we do. It also gives us the opportunity to selflessly help others in a meaningful way and to give back to our community and our country.

Collectively our team continues to grow. Together we have various academic qualifications. Mr. Joel is an experienced entrepreneur and has gained invaluable experience from regional projects such as CARIFESTA in 2019. Ezrah Davis holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship and is an experienced teacher in Spanish and French. 

We also have the support of Warren De Mills and Miranda Alexander who are also experienced teachers and carry academic qualifications in Education and Information Technology to their name.

As a team we've persisted through various ups and downs and even in respect of the Corona-virus pandemic we continue to press on. We have all contributed significantly and sacrificed instant gratification as we continue to develop our solution.

For the time we have been in operation, one of our most difficult times was at the start of this year. It was at this time we had to leave our main office as our funds were low and the team lead (Augustus) moved our working space to his home. We were developing our first main solution which was eco-friendly food packing and utensils. We were making progress and generating lead to begin shipment and invested our remaining funds into consultation and product sampling. Then the corona pandemic happened. At this point all our plans had to come to a halt. We lost our investments and government sanctions disallowed us to continue as we intended. During this time one of our team members left as the financial burden were too much. At this point we understood if we were to survive we needed to adapt. We reassessed our approach within the new environment and sought out ways in which we can add value. We continued to work with no revenue and without pay and still do. The experience however definitely taught us adaptability and really cemented the core team as committed to our objective. 

At the inception of Oneprime World we faced obstacles that neither of us ever faced before, however my approach to challenges is one of education. The instance in particular is related to the consultation we procured to help us develop our approach and build our platform. In short, the situation did not pan out well. Nonetheless I was driven to have our website up and running. At the conclusion of the consultation I had to engross myself into web development for the next three days in order bring about what was required. A team meeting was held thereafter and where we made key decisions for development. Based on feedback this truly motivated the team and they were grateful that there was an example to follow at that crucial time. Continuous learning and development has been our culture ever since.