I didn't say that this kid's effort would "solve the problem" but any steps are better than none, wouldn't you say? Or should we just abandon hope? Ahhh, fuckit, the oceans are full of trash, so throw another plastic bottle in the pile because it Just Doesn't Matter...? That negativity is not the way to approach this.
And there is NOTHING wrong with turning trash into treasure, in incentivizing "do gooding." Not everyone wants to wear a hair shirt, after all. If people can find a positive financial reason to "do good," they will do it more enthusiastically, most of 'em.
That IS human nature.
This teenager is getting off his ass and doing something--more than I can say for a lot of people.
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/19-year-old-develops-machine-clean-oceans-plastic
But all might not be lost. An organization called The Ocean Cleanup, founded by 19-year-old Boyan Slat, believe that they may have a viable solution to cleanup ocean trash. Following a year-long study involving extensive scientific research, the organization has recently released a feasibility report which concludes that their novel method to remove plastic from the oceans is both technically and financially viable. Furthermore, if employed, computer models predict that within ten years they could reduce the plastic within the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which has been previously deemed impossible to cleanup, by almost 50%.
How does it work? Their method exploits natural ocean currents and winds which passively transport garbage towards a collection platform. Solid floating barriers are then used to catch and concentrate the trash from the ocean, negating the risk of wildlife entanglement and vertebrate bycatch which are problems with other techniques such as nets.
Their first proof-of-concept test, which was performed at the Azores Islands, confirmed the capture and concentration potential of the floating barriers. After capture the plastic is removed mechanically and, according to the report, if it can be converted into other materials or oil some of the costs could potentially be recovered.
So what’s the catch? Cleanup projects unfortunately don’t come cheap, and the team estimate that this will cost €31.7 million per year (around $43 million). While this may sound dramatic, according to the report it’s actually around 33 times cheaper than other conventional cleanup methods that have been proposed to deal with the problem. But to minimize costs, The Ocean Cleanup is outsourcing most of the fundamental research to institutes and is also collaborating with various companies. In order to implement the next stage of the project, which will involve large-scale operational pilots, the company is now crowdsourcing $2 million.
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