Today is World Oceans Day – a day to raise awareness about the human impact on our blue planet and how we can work to protect it.
Because the ocean produces at least 50% of the Earth’s oxygen, is home to most of the planet’s biodiversity, and the main source of protein for over a billion people, it is essential that we safeguard this lifeline for future generations to come. It is certainly a hard realisation that human over-consumption and waste mismanagement is killing our oceans. But with acknowledgement and action, we can help turn this around and save our seas. Two water lovers, Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski, decided to take matters into their own hands and created the “Seabin” that would collect trash, oil, fuel and detergents. Their philosophy was that if we had bins on land collecting waste, why shouldn’t we have them in the ocean too? Porto Montenegro was one of 10 companies worldwide to invest in the Seabin Project and helped facilitate the product from prototype to roll out and install the first seabin in the Adriatic.
Now, there are three seabins in the area collecting 10 kg of waste every single day – the data from which is fed back to the project for important conservation research. Educational field trips with local schools are often hosted by Porto Montenegro and the importance of preserving the marine habitat taught to children of all ages. Whilst we proudly fly the flag for marine conservation in the Adriatic, there is still so much that can be done and we’d love to hear about your projects from clean up days to innovative tech ideas, that help to clean up our oceans.
Photo Credit: www.itu.int ©ITU/I.Wood
