This Young Mans Invention Will Remove Our Oceans Of Harmful Plastic Waste
Home Humanity This Young Mans Invention Will Remove Our Oceans Of Harmful Plastic Waste
While most 20-year-olds are spending their time having fun and figuring out their lives, Boyan Slat is trying to clean up our world’s oceans.
The Ocean Cleanup
His goal? “To halve the amount of plastic debris floating in the Pacific within a decade.” And with about eight million tons of plastic dumped into the ocean every year, this young Dutchman’s The Ocean Cleanup project couldn’t come soon enough.
The Ocean Cleanup
At present, plastic waste in the oceans congregate within five rotating currents, or gyres, scattered throughout the world.
The Ocean Cleanup
The premise is simple: “why move through the oceans, if the oceans can move through you?” So Slat’s plan is to place enormous floating barriers right on these gyres to capture the plastic waste flowing through these areas.
The Ocean Cleanup
The barriers are huge V-shaped buffers — 6,500 feet wide and anchored by floating booms.
The Ocean Cleanup
These barriers aren’t nets, so there is no chance that animals will get caught in them. Furthermore, current will still flow freely beneath the booms, ensuring the safety of marine animals.
The Ocean Cleanup
Because plastic is buoyant, the barriers would essentially funnel them above the water’s surface, making extraction and disposal a lot easier.
The Ocean Cleanup
It’s a passive system that seems very simple, but in reality, The Ocean Cleanup has worked with 100 volunteer scientists and engineers to confirm that it is, indeed, a feasible and cost-effective method to rid the seas of garbage.
The Ocean Cleanup
Like all fledgling projects, there are some technical issues that have been raised by environmental watchdogs, such as Deep Sea News. However, The Ocean Cleanup’s plan is sound enough to move forward.
The Ocean Cleanup
In fact, it has been dubbed the largest maritime clean-up in history and is already set for deployment in 2016.
The Ocean Cleanup
And to think it all started with a 20-year-old with a huge idea.
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