TWO members from a Trafford-based insurance company will travel to the island of Belize in autumn to learn more about conservation.

Talbot Road-based insurance firm Horwich Farrelly has chosen Joanne Brehaut and Briony Martin, from its 750 workforce, after they came up with the best ideas to help counter plastic pollution.

The competition was launched after the firm pledged to eliminate single-use plastics by 2010.

Briony won the all-expenses-paid trip after she documented a new way of dealing with plastic over a two-week period.

Methods included upcycling containers into plant pots and bird feeders, and chopping up meat and veg trays, which are difficult to recycle, to create pellets to improve soil drainage.

The judges felt Briony’s blog "demonstrated fantastic levels of innovation and creativity".

Meanwhile Joanne used a short film to explore simple ways her household was able to reduce plastic waste.

Her strategy included buying unwrapped vegetables at the greengrocer’s, swapping bottled toiletries for shampoo and conditioner bars, and even roping in her mum to make her own reusable bin liners.

The pair will travel to Belize shortly, where they will be able to learn more about ecology, water conservation and see at first hand the harm plastic is doing to the oceans and sea life.

Living in a simple beach camp, they will also have the opportunity to snorkel daily as well as delivering education to local communities and taking part in beach clean ups.

Horwich Farrelly CEO Thomas Reynard: “As a firm we’re already making great progress when it comes to our pledge to eliminate single-use plastics by 2020.