I love what I do and who I am. I am a historical and marine biologist, focused on understanding the stories of ecosystem change through time and using these stories to promote conservation. However, as a full-time academic, I have to admit something - I was often embarrassed when people asked me about my actual conservation contributions. Sure, I was doing the research, conducting the experiments, and even telling stories to auditoriums full of hundreds of people. But how much of that was really leading to conservation? I may be generating more action than some people, but it wasn’t enough. Not for me at least. I wanted to step outside the publications and get shit done. Thankfully, that's where Scott came in.
When Scott called me in the winter of 2022, I was skeptical. Scientists are not known for their entrepreneurial risk-taking. Also, what would people say about (at the time) two privileged white guys trying to promote international conservation activities? But the more I thought about it, the more excited I got. I am an expert in this field. I could use my expertise and my privilege to help guide real money and real change towards the numerous local, on-the-ground conservation groups I knew were doing incredible work, but were not getting enough spotlight. I could really try to promote change and drive conservation. As my momma used to say, “there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that!”. Thus, in the span of a few months, joywave was born.
joywave is how we’re striving to care for planet Earth. So many people seek to reduce their negative impact, whether through recycling more consciously, reducing their overall waste, boycotting products with harmful ingredients, or even just using paper straws instead of plastic. These efforts can feel futile when we can’t see the results of our efforts.
But this is why joywave is here. Our goal is to make a positive, measurable impact on the world around us. But we can’t do it alone, and we’re not arrogant enough to think that we can do it better than organizations that have been around much longer than we have, and have local knowledge specific to their needs. Since we’re the new kid on the block, I’d love to show you how we work, and how your donations contribute to saving the planet.
1. Find a conservation initiative
There are so many organizations out there that do so much good that it can be difficult to pick. At this point, however, it’s also about who we feel needs the most help, and who is interested in working with us. We try to focus on groups where we can make a measurable impact so our donors know exactly where their support is going. For instance, by the completion of our Daintree campaign, where we’ve partnered with Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation (JYAC), we’ll know exactly how many trees were planted, and we know now that part of the donation will be going toward the training of young Yalanji owners.
2. Engage with a creative talent
We find an influencer, celebrity, or content creator who’s passionate about the particular conservation organization to partner with to bring more awareness to the cause. Maybe people do have a particular passion but don’t know how to support a cause, and we facilitate that connection.
3. Partner with sustainable brands
Next up is finding brands who are sustainably minded, like Zorali and Bluem, who want to work with us to support the conservation initiative. They can sponsor gifts for donors or contribute to the fundraiser, and we share audiences for heightened awareness.
4. Fire up a campaign
Now the hard work begins. We put together a campaign for the course of the fundraising period across as many different channels as possible from Instagram to YouTube to our exclusive community. Our goal is to engage people who want to make a positive impact on the environment and leave the world better than they found it. As we build a following, we want to get as many eyes on our conservation partner as possible. This is win, win, win! You as the donor get more transparency and a greater volume of information about the conservation action, our conservation partners get more credit and eyes on them through our content, and we build a trusting, loyal brand that positively feeds back into this loop.
We have multiple donation tiers so people can contribute as much as they can, and each tier comes with gifts from us and our brand partners to thank you for donating. For our current campaign to the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia, donation tiers 1 and higher also come with an application to join the joywave team on a trip to the conservation location, and one winner from each application tier will be selected to join us.
5. Travel with the community
Time to travel! Our campaigns end with us selecting winners from the donor applications to join us on an eco-adventure to the conversation location, where donors experience the nature they’ve helped to conserve. We plan fun-filled itineraries with activities like planting trees, snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, a week of daily surfing, rooftop yoga, and even bungee jumping over a rainforest.
These five steps can sound simple, but they’re a lot of work. Scott, our fellow co-founder Steph, and I have been careful to build a team as passionate about saving the world as we are. If what we’re doing speaks to you, join our community and maybe even consider donating to our Discover the Daintree campaign. Join us to create a positive impact on the earth and get the chance to travel to some of the most beautiful places in the world. There ain’t nothin’ wrong with that!