Seabin Foundation joins the Newcastle community

In 2021, two Seabins were installed in Newcastle. After collecting valuable data from their catches over time, we know that 2 out of 10 plastic items collected there are food wrappers, and 3 in 10 are microplastics.

To increase awareness of plastic pollution, the Seabin team joined forces with Ship4Good, the Marine Rescue team, and other local groups for a community picnic event, “Sea + Celebrate”, in Newcastle in February 2023. In addition to the community groups on-site and live music, an ocean-inspired digital artwork was projected on a historical building for all to fall in love with the seas again! Located near the harbour wharf it once served, the Newcastle Carrington Pumphouse had recently been revamped as a historical building. The evening picnic brought a family friendly gathering ambiance to the surrounding grounds.

Seabin Foundation could attend thanks to the support from the Newcastle Port Community Contribution Fund (NPCC). The collective effort brought the community together to advocate for cleaner oceans.

Five teammates of the Seabin family, Karli, Tim, Mahi, and Santxo happily engaged with visitors interested to discuss the operations and the positive impacts of having Seabins in town.

One of our core missions at Seabin Foundation is to share insights about ocean conservation. The Newcastle community was incredibly welcoming to our team, asking various questions and learning about ways to mitigate the issue. People were curious and appeared hopeful when learning more about all the possibilities tied to Seabin data, our programs, and future projects.

Thanks to everyone who came to meet us, for being curious and sharing ideas!

Newcastle hosts two Seabins located at the Newcastle Yacht Club and below are some impact statistics that reflect the plastics that are flowing from upstream litter build up:

Over 450 M Litres of water filtered since December 2021, equivalent to 192 Olympic swimming pools:

• 51,000 pieces of plastics
• Of which 18,000 are microplastics

Top items found:

1. Microplastics – 32%
2. Food wrappers – 21%
3. Soft unidentified plastics – 12%
4. Hard unidentified plastics – 11%
5. Foam pieces – 7%

Newcastle Seabin picnic Microplastic Sea Celebrate
       

How to get involved

There are many ways we can all contribute to the global effort for cleaner oceans! Contact us here to find out how you can get involved on our mission for cleaner oceans.

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