The Floating Rubbish Bin That Keeps the Oceans Clean

To Australian surfers Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski, the ocean is everything – it’s their playground, their muse and a big part of their income. And despite a rise in awareness about environmental issues in recent years, that playground is getting dirty. That’s why Turton and Ceglinski decided to get proactive, and designed the Seabin – an automated marina rubbish bin that collects floating rubbish, debris and oil, 24/7.

The innovative new invention aims to help solve and prevent ocean pollution by replacing the “trash boats” that currently serve marinas around the world. Such boats drive around harbors and marinas scooping up rubbish with nets – and while the solution does a lot of good for now, they are expensive to run and maintain and are not as effective as they could be.

Once they get past the Indiegogo fundraising phase and into full production, the Seabin will be able to tackle ocean cleanliness one marina at a time. The eco-gadget is located in the water and fixed to a floating dock, with a shore-based water pump on the dock. The water pump creates a flow of water into the bin, bringing with it all manners of floating rubbish and debris. The debris gets caught in a natural fibre catch bag and the water is then sucked out the bottom of the bin and up to the water pump where it is then pumped back into the marina – and voila! Clean ocean.

For the (green) cherry on top, the Aussie creators have a dream for the next stage: they’re cooking up a plan to manufacture future Seabins from the very plastic gathered from the oceans. “It’s domino effect.”