Australian boat builder and sailor Andrew Turton was disgusted by the pollution he saw collecting in the marinas he called home. So he teamed up with Pete Ceglinski, an industrial designer with experience working in plastics, to create a solution. Together they invented the Seabin, a simple floating bucket that uses the ocean’s currents to collect the pollution in marinas and ports.
The Seabin works like a fish tank’s filtration system. The collection bucket is connected to a water pump that sucks in floating debris, which collects in a mesh bag. An optional oil-water separator removes the oil and detergents from sea water. “It essentially works as a similar concept to a skimmer box from your pool filter,” Richard Talmage, a Seabin spokesman, told an Australian news show.
“We want to build it in the most sustainable and ecologically responsible way we can,” Ceglinski told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “But to do that it’s quite expensive, so we thought to give crowdfunding a go.” The Seabin quickly went viral and had surpassed its goal of raising $230,000 with more than a week left in the campaign. Now that they’re funded, the future looks bright for the Seabin, and our oceans. According to the founders, “One of our goals is to make the Seabin from our own plastics.” Their second goal is “to create a world where we don’t need Seabins.”
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(H/T The Huntington Post)
