Sean Project: the answer to a cleaner ocean

The mounting plastic waste in the world's oceans has been the subject of of some pretty bold environmental undertakings, perhaps none more so than the Ocean Cleanup Project aiming to eradicate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Seabin Project represents a smaller-scale approach, but it is noble in its aspirations all the same. Installation in ports and marinas sees this ocean-friendly trash can suck up the surrounding debris and even remove oil from the water.

Dreamt up by two Australian surfers who had grown tired of taking to the local waters amid floating plastic and rubbish, the Seabin is basically a water filtering system designed for contained environments like yacht clubs, marinas and ports. Without needing to contend with stronger currents and ocean storms, here it can chip away at pollution in visible areas where there is plenty of human activity

It is installed on a dock and plumbed into a shore-based water pump. With the rim sitting even with the surface of the water, the pump sucks water into the bin and brings the surrounding trash, oil and detergent along for the ride. A removable catch bag made from natural fiber then gathers the debris and the water is pumped through to an (optional) oil-water separator, before being fed back into the ocean once cleaned.

The team were looking to raise 250K and managed to raise just over that amount by crowdfunding. I am so pleased to read about such a worthy cause and a great product design too! I wish the Aussie boys all the best, and I'll have my eye on this product to see how it goes. Hopefully we'll be seeing these bopping around all our marinas very soon.