Fazilette Khan
GreenSeas Trust founder awarded Merchant Navy Medal
GreenSeas Trust is proud to announce our Founder Trustee, Fazilette Khan is to receive the Merchant Navy Medal. This prestigious award has been given to her for services to the marine environment.
The Royal Warrant for this State Award is signed by Her Majesty The Queen. The award is only presented to those who have served at sea in the Merchant Navy or Fishing Fleets and have a minimum of 20 years’ service.
Fazilette’s seagoing career as an officer has spanned that time with ease. She sailed the seven seas on vessels of every size and type, from supertankers to majestic liners. It was while traversing the oceans that Fazilette saw the marine plastics problem growing and knew she had to do something about it.
Fazilette says: “It is an honour to be presented with such a prestigious award. We all hear about the Great Garbage Patch in the news – well I have sailed through it. I have witnessed first-hand the ship ploughing through huge islands of flotsam and jetsam. It was really heart-wrenching to see the destruction of this pristine environment happening before my very own eyes.”
The seed for founding a charity to help preserve the marine environment was sown. Today, GreenSeas Trust has run several initiatives to stop plastics entering the oceans. The BinForGreenSeas project has seen the Trust placing nautically themed bins along some of UK’s most visited promenades. Its visual appearance and graphics helps people to make the connection between litter left thoughtlessly on beaches or thrown into waterways and the harmful effect this has on marine life and human health. The bin is both symbolic and practical, helping change people’s behaviour to reduce plastic pollution.
