We sat down with Cindy Rosselle, Owner of PADI Eco Center One Ocean Scuba in Rockville, Maryland, USA. Committed to conservation from the very beginning, Cindy recounts her team’s journey to becoming one of the world’s first PADI Eco Centers.

When and why did you first start taking sustainability and conservation seriously in your dive business? 

One Ocean Scuba was created with conservation in mind. Our slogan is “Dive. Protect. Repeat.” because conservation has been at the heart of our mission from the beginning.

How many years have you been working on sustainability/conservation to get to where you are now? 

I have been a professional diver since 1998 and the environment wasn’t a strong focus when I began. But it’s impossible to fall in love with the ocean and everything in it without starting to realize we have a very real impact by the way we dive. Shortly after I became an instructor, I started focusing on the PADI AWARE Courses and taught them as often as possible.

What steps did you take in your sustainability journey? 

In the beginning I used information from the Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty to equip divers with the skills needed to stay off the coral, and I’ve always had a never-touch rule when diving! Later, I started combining courses like Coral Conservation into my other classes because the more students know about how delicate the reef is, the more respect they show while diving. My favorite addition to the curriculum has been Dive Against Debris. Showing divers how we can leave a site better than we found it is truly powerful. 

Our dive shop specializes in youth diving courses, which is a natural way to make a difference. The next generation of divers is already more aware of our environmental impact, so they inherently want to protect it. I believe training this next generation of divers is how we restore the ocean to health. Then we joined Green Fins as a way to double-check ourselves – it is easy to “think” you are being as green as you can – but having Green Fins work with us to create a personalized Action Plan was key to ensure we have thought through all aspects of the business. 

Recently, we had the privilege of working with the Anacostia Watershed Society to gather data on their Mussel Propagation project. We look forward to working with them over the next year to gather data, count and identify mussel species, and hopefully create a marine protected area around Buzzard Point in D.C. to safeguard the mussel beds that are now thriving.

What actions did you take/solutions did you implement that have worked well for you? 

We adopted several local sites where we conduct Dive Against Debris events. Having an adopted site is a great way to keep our divers in the water locally. We bundle AWARE courses with core PADI courses as often as possible so that we are always talking about environmental impacts. We offer PADI AWARE courses to non-divers – snorkelers are key to taking care of the reef systems, so we work with school groups, youth groups, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts to ensure our message is out there. Now we are building a Green Fins Wall of Fame in the shop to highlight those customers that take the eCourse and commit to diving and living sustainably.

What lessons did you learn along the way? 

The biggest lesson we learned is that we can truly make a difference right where we are. Sometimes it seems like you can only get involved if you live along the coast. But that’s not the case! The key is to start right where you are and use the tools you have! Our local waters in Maryland might not be where people think of when you say, “Let’s go scuba diving!” but cleaning up debris in the Susquehanna River before it can make its way into the Chesapeake Bay is incredibly beneficial to our local area. Helping create a marine protected area for mussels in the Anacostia River will improve the water quality exponentially. These local actions are incredibly important.

What advice would you share with other PADI Members looking to become PADI Eco Centers? 

My advice would be to look for small ways you can get involved in the local area. Every waterway has needs and there are likely ways you can dive in to participate underwater. If trying to plan your own event seems overwhelming, look for organizations with events you can support instead. Is there a “sweep the creek” planned? See if you can add an underwater element to it. You don’t have to do it by yourself, and every local action you take adds up to the global change we need.

In order to become a PADI Eco Center, each PADI operator has joined PADI AWARE’s Adopt the Blue network and demonstrated an exemplary level of environmental performance through The Reef-World Foundation’s Green Fins initiative. To learn more about PADI Eco Center and the steps you can take at your dive business to begin or continue your sustainability journey, check out the links below.

PADI Eco Center Launches on Earth Day
Understanding PADI Eco Center: How To Demonstrate Exemplary Environmental Performance

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Conservation, conservation, Dive Against Debris, PADI AWARE, PADI Eco CenterPADI Pros