Welcome to the Christmas 2018 GreenSeas Trust blog, where we are looking back on our achievements from the last year and celebrating our successes. We have made great headway in lots of areas, launching our BinForGreenSeas flagship project, working with various councils and bringing lots of new people on board with fresh ideas and plenty of drive to save our seas.
Our work in 2018
The GreenSeas message is now travelling far and wide, inspiring more people to change their everyday behaviour. 2018 has been a significant year for us, as we launched our BinForGreenSeas project. We began with a concept and have taken it all the way to the finishing line, where we have an actual product, ready for manufacture once we have the financial resources.
Here is a timeline of our achievements in 2018 – a brief glimpse into the wonderful work that has taken place in the last 12 months:
1st Quarter:
The BinForGreenSeas project begins! GreenSeas Trust run a competition at the University of East London. We challenge product design students to create a bin that will capture people’s attention and educate them about the damage of irresponsible littering.
George Davis and Emily Hodgkinson present an iconic bin design that is loved by all trustees.
2nd Quarter:
Fazilette Khan presents Emily and George’s design at the Maritime HR Association conference, and this is ultimately chosen for manufacture. Our BinForGreenSeas is born!
3rd Quarter:
Thanet Council becomes the second council to join our mission and sign up to our BinForGreenSeas. This follows on from Arun Council, who were the first to join us back in 2017.
4th Quarter:
The BinForGreenSeas project is chosen for Tesco’s Bags of Help grant scheme, which raises money for local causes from the sale of plastic bags. You can still vote for us! Find out more here.
Blackpool Council joins our growing list of councils. We are looking forward to seeing our BinForGreenSeas in Blackpool in 2019.
The IET Young Professionals Global Challenge launches, featuring challenges set by us and by Greenpeace!
It’s been a wonderful year, but there is always more to be done. You can help us out in so many ways, and one of the simplest is to add GreenSeas Trust to your eBay account! 
Help raise money and spread the word whilst doing your last-minute Christmas shopping, or whilst browsing bargains in the January sales. Alternatively, donate to us now. We have raised 63% of our target – help us get up to 100%, and help save our oceans.
Our student product designers
How could we possibly talk about our achievements in 2018 without talking about George and Emily, the two incredibly talented product design students who brought our BinForGreenSeas project to life.
We had a chat to George and Emily to find out a little more about them and how playing a major part in the GreenSeas Trust movement has impacted them:
George Davis
“After taking part in a beach clean run by GreenSeas, the need for something to help combat the issue of plastic waste in the sea was clear. So when GreenSeas approached Emily and me to design a bin to tackle this issue, the answer was obviously yes.
We took a lot of inspiration from the sea and nautical objects such as navigation bouys, fish, the movement of water. We finally settled with a design based around a life ring. This choice appeared obvious as our design will be helping save lives in the sea just like the life ring.
We faced multiple technical challenges along the way. These include getting the design to a manufacturable level, and getting the design’s IP rights registered, as neither of us has done this before. But we got there! I feel very proud knowing the work Emily and I put into this project will be helping fight a growing and increasingly known problem.
I truly believe that good product design is the first step in creating a healthier planet. It’s time for consumerist design to go and eco-friendly design to become the norm. I try to incorporate sustainable materials in all my projects and believe all designers should do the same. As the designers of our man-made world, designers have the responsibility to look after the natural world that we take so much inspiration from.”
Emily Hodkinson
“I took part in a design competition created by Fazilette Khan, to create a bin to promote responsible behaviour with regards to plastic disposal. We created some ideas based around the sea and nautical themes, and we were then shown the slogan ‘Throw Marine Life A Lifeline’. We had a lightbulb moment where we suddenly knew what the design should be – the life rings!
We had to think about how the bin would actually be produced, especially as it is quite large. We had to think about how to reduce the size as much as we would without losing the attention-grabbing side to the bin. It needs to be seen! I learnt a lot about the issue of plastic waste and I am a lot more aware of how important it is that plastic is disposed of and used responsibly. If this bin can make one person change the way they think then it will have been a success. But we are more ambitious than that, this problem needs to be faced by everyone. Nobody has an excuse not to recycle!
It does make me genuinely proud that the bin looks aesthetically pleasing and was created for an extremely good reason. Good product design is going to become a big talking point very soon, because the designer has a responsibility to create something for the present whilst also considering the future. I have just finished a project using 100% recycled plastic – wherever possible, designers should be looking to create new from old and reduce excess waste.”
Have George and Emily inspired you? Why not send us a Christmas donation so we can continue our work? Use the RED donate button above.
Now all that’s left to say is Merry Christmas, and all the very best for the New Year! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more plastic-free Christmas ideas, and enjoy the festivities happily, healthily and sustainably.