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Lofty ambition

The Aussie innovation combating US and Hawaii's marine plastic problem.

05 June 2019

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Aussie surfer, father, Ecoprenuer and clean ocean advocate Pete Ceglinski will tour from San Diego to San Francisco and then Hawaii with his partner Sascha and their 1 year-old son in a truck with surfboards and Seabins this June and July.

Seabins, a device that is essentially a trash can for the water invented by Co-Founders Pete Ceglinski and Andrew Turton to help reduce, and ultimately eliminate pollution in our waterways, have been globally recognised as one of the most promising ways of turning the tide in the battle against plastic pollution.

Each Seabin installed can remove up to 1.5 tons of waste from marine waterways per year. Since Pete successfully crowdfunded the Seabin invention in 2015, the product has received substantial uptake throughout marinas, harbors and ports around the world. To date, there have been 719 Seabins installed worldwide.

What does this mean? Each day, a total of 1.95 tons of waste is extracted from the world’s waterways.

“The U.S. is our most important market entry milestone for the team at Seabin,” said Pete.

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“Our goal is to install, demonstrate, give corporate presentations and host community events throughout the tour. The issue of ocean plastics is an “everyone’s problem” and not any one person or group can solve it by themselves. We are looking to engage and activate communities by giving them the Seabin technology as a powerful communication platform.”

Since Seabin Project launched in the U.S. two years ago with Safe Harbor Marinas, an estimated 16.6 tons of waste has been extracted from U.S. waterways. An additional 35 units are being installed in the next month and over 70 units predicted for July, August and September. The tour will increase that number to 66 Seabins installed and result in an additional 90 tons of marine pollution extracted from U.S. waterways each year.

Pete is excited to build awareness of ocean plastic removal in the U.S. throughout the tour which kicks off in San Diego June 10 and includes stops in Marina Del Rey, Ventura, San Francisco, and East Bay, Ca. The final stop will be in Oahu, Hi and will wrap up July 21. At each location the public is invited to join Pete and his family for one of the following: Seabin installations, demonstrations, educational presentations, beach clean-ups, and community events. The goal is to empower individuals, communities, corporations and local governments to take a stand on plastic pollution and make a difference in their local marinas and ports.

Event attendees will have an opportunity to learn about the Seabin technology firsthand, and how to fight the plastic pandemic through presentations on the Seabin concepts of Reactive + Preventative Solutions. Pete will also be implementing Ocean Plastic STEM learning programs at each location.

While the Seabin team is working on a number of new ways to eliminate marine waste, Pete says that Seabin is only part of the solution.

“Education is prevention and that is the real goal. Our strategy is to address the issue as a whole solution through technology, education, science and community activities,” he said.

“Once people see the amount of debris that a single Seabin can pull from a small marina, they understand how much waste ends up in our waterways and instantly reassess the way they dispose of their rubbish. The Seabins are catching big stuff like plastic bottles, bags, cups and also smaller stuff like plastic nurdles, micro-plastics and just recently micro fibers. This is all great, but our dream is to one day live in a world where Seabins aren’t necessary.

seabinproject.com

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