Page 104 - EarthHeroes

collected forming the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – an area of plastic
and rubbish twice the size of France, floating between the USA and
Hawaii. It has even been found at the deepest point of the ocean, the Mariana Trench, 10 kilometres below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
It is a devastating problem, killing and harming marine life, and if the leakage of plastic into the environment is not stopped, by 2050 the ocean
will contain more plastic than fish by weight. Much of this pollution is microplastic – tiny plastic fragments less than five millimetres in size, and plastic microfibres which come off clothing when we wash it. These are eaten by marine life and by humans in turn when we eat fish and shellfish.
As part of his job, Andrew had to clean the outsides of yachts, but this was difficult in marinas full of oily water and debris. One day in 2011, while working on a yacht in Los Angeles, he suddenly had a brainwave. If you can have rubbish bins on land, then why not have them in water? Over the months that followed, he tested his idea, using a plastic bin, glue, duct tape and a pump. His device worked, so he took it with him to marinas around the world. In 2013, after meeting Pete, he told him about his invention and asked if he could help turn it into something that could be sold.
Pete was excited and started thinking of how it might work. Soon he had a design for a bin which sat just below the surface of the water, sucking water and floating rubbish into its opening. The rubbish would be collected in a ‘catch bag’, while the ‘clean’ water would be pumped out of the bottom. It would be powered by electricity and, just like a rubbish bin, emptied when full. They would start by making these for the calm waters of marinas, ports and harbours, where they often saw lots of litter. Pete and Andrew called their invention the Seabin.
By 2015, Pete had given up his job, to focus on developing the technology that would turn their idea into a reality. Meanwhile, Andrew decided to step back from the project to concentrate on boatbuilding, although he continued to help out. The pair had been working in Majorca, so Pete stayed on and converted an old warehouse into a workshop, buying machinery and tools to make the first Seabins – called prototypes – to test out his ideas.
While everyone agreed that cleaning up the oceans was hugely important, some people who had heard of the invention were worried that the Seabins might suck in and kill ocean life. To ensure this would not happen, Pete hired a marine biologist and surfer, Sergio, to help with the design, as well as two other office staff, Paola and Sascha, to help run the company.
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