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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Ocean Cleanup Successfully Hauls 20,000 Pounds of Plastic From the Pacific Ocean
For nearly a decade, the world has been watching as Boyan Slat's The Ocean Cleanup transformed from an 18-year-old's idea to a non-profit pulling in millions in funding. The organization's aim is to remove 90% of the ocean's floating plastic by 2040. This ambitious goal has seemed both attainable and far out of reach during the highs and lows of testing different systems for the cleanup. But now, it seems that the organization's System 002, which is nicknamed Jenny, is up to the task.
After some trial and error with previous prototypes, Jenny appears to do its job well. In August, the team launched Jenny into the Pacific and headed toward the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This vortex of trash located between Hawaii and California is fertile ground for The Ocean Cleanup. Over the course of 12 weeks, they tested the system to ensure that it would not only capture ocean plastic but that it was durable enough to bring the haul onboard.
Fortunately, Jenny passed the test. The last haul brought in an astounding 9,000 kilograms (almost 20,000 pounds) of plastic. So what happens to all this plastic? Once the system is closed and hauled aboard the ship, its net gets emptied. The plastic is then sorted and recycled, with some of the plastic even being used to create sunglasses that help fund The Ocean Project.
Like all of The Ocean Cleanup's technology, Jenny works by acting as a huge barrier that, when dragged along at slow speeds, traps trash. By skimming the surface of the ocean, Jenny picks up larger pieces of floating plastic. While some critics point out that there may be up to 30 times more plastic deeper in the ocean, The Ocean Cleanup maintains that collecting plastic while it is still large cuts down on eventual microplastics sinking into the sea.
As each system can hold anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 kilograms, Slat estimates that with 10 Jennys, the organization could clean up 50% of the trash vortex in just five years. Of course, the system isn't perfect. The company is currently purchasing carbon credits to offset the emissions of the boat used to haul Jenny around the ocean. At the moment, it's a necessary evil as The Ocean Cleanup found that allowing the system to passively move around using the ocean's currents as originally planned ended in large quantities of plastic escaping from the barriers.
Still, even with the issues to work out, Jenny's success is a huge step forward in eliminating plastic from our oceans.
More photos and links to their sites at the link. This is a very intriguing project and they could use donations and support. The sunglasses made from ocean plastic look pretty cool.
Tom Kitten
(7,339 posts)Nice to read something positive for a change.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,296 posts)I wish much success to the folks cleaning up our oceans.
PufPuf23
(8,687 posts)20,000 lbs is only 10 tons (2000 lbs per ton).
10 Jennys doing 15,000 kg (33,000 lbs or 16.5 tons) could no way clean up 50% of the trash vortex in 5 years.
For perspective, in California legal highway limit for a logging truck is 25 tons of logs on the truck or 50,000 lbs.
10 Jennys X 16.5 tons = 165 tons (6.6 loads of logs on a California logging truck.
The plastic vortex in the Pacific is much larger than 330 tons.
Like the goal but ..
LT Barclay
(2,585 posts)Not that I don't find the project encouraging, but it is disheartening to drive down the roads where I live and realize that people can't even stop littering.
List left
(594 posts)Response to PufPuf23 (Reply #3)
sl8 This message was self-deleted by its author.
canetoad
(17,088 posts)A dead whale had 15kg of small plastic particles in its gut.
I see it every day - old broken plastic - bottles, boating equipment, fishing gear, coffee pods - washed up and disintegrating in the sun and salt. Yesterday I cut two large tangles of fishing line and hooks from seaweed and brought them home to dispose.
And ya know - my local beaches are among the cleanest in the world. Today I found about 6m of old rope washed up. Cut it free from the kelp and coiled it up to bring to the garbage - it had hundreds of tiny goose barnacles attached but they had died - and smelt like it. I'd collected a nice swarm of flies when I got to the steps.
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IronLionZion
(45,250 posts)find positive news and share it. There are plenty of people sharing the negative stuff.
Kick
DeeNice
(574 posts)IronLionZion
(45,250 posts)IT ALL STARTED WHEN
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You cant save all these starfish. You cant begin to make a difference!
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,
Well, I made a difference for that one!
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.