A campaign to raise funds for Howth Harbour’s first Seabin has been successful, and the first device will be switched on at a special event next Wednesday morning (21 August).
Earlier this year, local man Rowan Byrne launched a crowdfunding drive to pay for the installation of the surface water cleaning device that has already made a big difference in Dun Laoghaire thanks to the sterling efforts of young marine litter campaigner Flossie Donnelly.
Byrne has also been backed by his employer Mott MacDonald and Howth’s Harbour Master in his own efforts, and harbour authorities will maintain the Seabin that will be installed at the passenger vessel ferry pontoon opposite Aqua restaurant.
The Seabin is essentially a floating bucket with a pump that sucks in debris from the surface and traps it for later collection.
But the device’s simplicity belies its effectiveness, as a single Seabin as the potential to collect as many as 20,000 plastic bottles or more than 80,000 plastic bags from the water each year.
“Everyone knows just how important the sea and the marine life in there is to us,” said Harbour Master Harold McLoughlin. “We hope this Seabin will have a big impact on the amount of rubbish floating around in the local area.”
