Diver seas pots of potential in ocean debris
A diver has turned his experiences of maritime pollution into a thriving new business – recycling ocean debris into plant pots.
Ally Mitchell was salvaging the cargo ship MV Kaami, which grounded on rocks in The Minch last March, amid concern its cargo of refuse-derived fuel pellets might spill into the sea, when his idea began to form.
Ally, 38, said: “We were swimming along the hull just to look at the extent of the damage and then diving inside the hold of the ship.
“It had 2,000 tonnes of this plastic material and we were in it in our diving suits.
“I’d never seen it so obvious, the extent of what plastic pollution could do. There was a young guy on the job and he said to me, and it always stuck with me, ‘this isn’t right you know, Ally’. That started the ball rolling.”
The experience added to his shock after hearing about a whale washing up on Luskentyre beach, Harris, with 100kg of fishing net in its stomach.
During lockdown last year, Ally began researching how to process and recycle plastic.
That has now flourished into Ocean Plastic Pots, a business converting old rope and fishing nets into bright and colourful plant pots.
Lockdown proved the perfect time to get the project going, with many people taking a renewed interest in gardening while stuck at home.
“Scotland has some amazing marine life and the impact from pollution is real,” said Ally.
“It is estimated that eight million tonnes of plastic enters our oceans ever year. That is a terrifying amount, causing grave harm to the future of our planet.”