University of Portsmouth Alumni Magazine 1 1 | Page 3

about the environment. The idea for Jetsam was sparked by two events. First, a news story about a plastic toy washed up on a Portsmouth beach. The toy was found to date from the middle of the last century - and was still absolutely pristine (illustrating the danger of plastic waste in our seas, where it takes hundreds of years to break down into microplastic pieces). Closer to home, Louis recalls walking past a street one morning where a bin had been knocked over: Louis Capitanchik BSc (Hons) ‘16 ‘The entire road was covered in plastic waste, just absolutely filthy and I didn’t really know what I could do. Jetsam is a personal crusade to make sure there is a tool available for that sort of thing. I want to enact change and help others enact change as well. Because no one person can change everything, so if you build a tool everyone can use, together you can do some good.’ Louis’ can-do attitude was influenced by his experience studying BSc (Hons) Software Engineering at Portsmouth, which he describes as ‘a very practical approach to the stuff I wanted to learn.’ He recalls a lecturer bringing in a pickaxe and weaving a ‘wonderful analogy about gardening and how that relates to how you build software.’ Now Jetsam Tech is collaborating with the University of Portsmouth. They spend some time working at one of the University’s Innovation Connect spaces, and are working closely with the Revolution Plastics team, which has an ambitious goal to turn the city of Portsmouth into a global showcase for a sustainable plastics future. To play your part, download the app or learn more at jetsam.tech. ‘I WANT TO ENACT CHANGE AND HELP OTHERS ENACT CHANGE AS WELL.’