Aimee Caine, 3D Design and Craft BA(Hons), has been awarded the University’s Environmental Award for developing her project to get children involved in reducing plastic pollution.
Now in its fourth year, the Environmental Award aims to reward and showcase inspiring environmental projects at the University and promote sustainability in the curriculum.
The Award is has been developed by the University’s Environment Team, with a panel of judges from the School of Environment and Technology; the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences; the School of Art Design and Media; the School of Health Sciences; the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics; Brighton Business School; the Centre for Learning and Teaching and the Green Growth Platform.
It is awarded twice in the academic year, at both the Summer and Winter Graduation Ceremonies.
This year’s winner, Aimee Caine, 3D Design and Craft BA(Hons), will receive a £200 cash prize.
Aimee’s final year project addresses an issue that has become a recent global focus: Ocean plastic pollution.
Her project aims to raise awareness of plastic pollution through encouraging children to protect their environment and collect plastic through the Plastic Hunter children’s book and ‘Plastic Hunter Kit’, a specially designed kit for children to collect and record found plastic, including a kit bag, plastic diary, sieve, net and magnifying jar.
Aimee also created one of the book’s characters, ‘Wilbert the Whale’, as a solar powered buoy that filters water for micro-plastics.
Aimee said: “Winning the Environmental Award is a huge honour, it means a lot to know that my project has been well received and the message I am trying to convey comes across.
“Plastic pollution is a huge global issue and to have any chance of saving our oceans we need to start acting now. Using Wilbert The Whale and my children’s Plastic Hunting Kit, I hope to inspire a younger generation of eco-warriors, who view plastic as a precious material to be treated with respect rather than as waste.
“Winning the award not only provides the project with recognition, but it also motivates me to take my project further and get it into production so that I can start paving the way forward for the next generation to save our oceans.”
Find out more about Aimee’s project on her website: https://www.aimeecaine.com/.
The Environmental Award will reopen in late summer for students finishing their degree in August or September and graduating in the winter 2019 ceremonies. Applications can be made by graduating students themselves, or by the students’ dissertation/final project supervisors.
Find more information about the award and the application process on the Environmental Award pages: https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/environmentalaward/.
