"As the former co-owner of one of the most successful ad agencies in Singapore, I've done more than most to contribute to climate change," explains Martin, whose clients included Saab and Porsche. "When I came back to the UK I could have stepped into another ad role but I decided to save the planet. It's easy to tick a recycling box, so I focus on reuse and reduction."
He describes his website as "non-judgemental and fun," adding: "Not everyone responds well to being told what to do, especially if it's hypocritical. My own county has half a dozen different ways to collect waste. Policy isn't joined up-there's so much fudging and faffing. We focus on not putting anything in the bin in the first place."
His "waste not, want not" policy caught the attention of the judges at the International Inventors Exhibition in Geneva, who spotted the commercial potential of his eco-design-Re:tie-earlier this year. Martin redesigned the security closure strip used in most drinks bottles and jars, by introducing a block with a hole. This means the strip can be saved and reused as a tie "for anything that needs tying together".
He recalls: "I blew a ton of money to get there, yet the Welsh stand was paid for by the Welsh Development Agency. It would have been a disaster if I had come away with nothing. But I won a Gold, which is a turning point, symbolically," he says.
He's patented his idea, but admits he lacks the savvy to commercialise Re:tie. "I'm good at evangelising, but I'm in need of a partner who 'talks suit', who can deal with IP, licensing and so on. Not everyone's a James Dyson-I need to partner with someone who can add value to the idea."
In the meantime, he's focusing on growing Junkk.com and sharing advice: "The UK is seen as the dirty man of Europe but at least we've got some nifty eco ideas to make up for it. Everyone's pointing the finger at one another: we've got to focus and join up our thinking."
