What does "One Blue Eye" stand for?

One Blue Eye was born from a lifelong passion for surfing and the growing impact of plastic pollution on our beloved beaches.

Learning to surf in the 80's

Growing up and learning to surf in the 80s, founder Matt Nott remembers a time before every tide brought in a new wave of plastic pollution

"My first surf craft, at about the age of 10, was a full on polystyrene bellyboard, they were all the rage! Litter on the beach was generally only left by uncaring holiday makers and days on the beach started at breakfast and ended with a BBQ for tea. It wasn't until the late 90s, when I was in my mid 20s that I started noticing more and more waste on the beach. SAS had recently pushed water companies to clean up the sewerage problem which regularly made water users sick, but this new issue was beginning to surface."

Having always picked up litter on the way back to the car after a surf, one such event triggered the start of what would be the beginning of One Blue Eye. Matt recalls "It was a family walk on the beach one new years day, to blow out some cobwebs. The waves were small and the beach was crowded with dog walkers, visiting families and ocean plastic!" Frustrated that the 100 or so beachgoers seemed oblivious about this plastic blight under their feet, Matt decided to find a way to inspire more people to pick up a few pieces on every visit. "I looked at the plastic I had collected, all the fantastic colours, and thought that instead of being overwhelmed, and ultimately exhausted, by this scourge, I wanted to create something that would change people's perspective on this problem and inspire action" 

Turning waste into something of wonder

Matt went away and turned to the trusted internet to research ways to transform this waste into something of wonder.

"My go to resource for learning to do anything is Youtube, and it didn't disappoint! After a few hours of going down a deep wormhole I came across a group called Precious Plastic. This guy, Dave Hakkens, had put together a team to create a community of plastic recyclers around the world and share all their combined knowledge open source, for free! A little deeper down the hole and a couple of brothers melting plastic on a sandwich toaster in their shed. Eureeka!!"

The first few experiments where basically "blobs" of plastic but it was enough to get Matts creative juices going and eventually his first "really useful" item was born - "All the mistakes and mishaps led me to eventually creating a small sheet of plastic, a hand size sheet, a flat hand size sheet that could have a small strap attached. A handplane! What better product to make from beach plastic than a fun and engaging way and a great excuse to head back to the beach, grab a few waves and a bucket load of more "precious plastic" to turn into more handplanes!"

The handplane (or Paniniplane as Matt has named them) is not currently in regular production but they still serves as a great example of a circular product that can be used to help save the very playgrounds we love.

Find our Store in Helston, Cornwall

Today One Blue Eye is located in the town center of Helston, Cornwall, where Matt works with the local community, businesses and individuals to explore more ways to give plastic waste value. Working with both ocean and post consumer/industrial plastic and turning it into all sorts of wonderful, useful and inspiring objects, all under one roof. 

What will Matt and One Blue Eye do next? 

"I can see this sort of model best serving other local communities from small, highstreet locations where it can work with people on a small scale to tackle a big problem. Turning local plastic waste into jobs, education and products that can benefit the local area, local people and local environment"

Waste into Jobs

Local Education

Local people