Bruce Wagner
27.05.2021 18:36:41
The ultimate resource for design industry professionals, brought to you by the editors of Architectural Digest
See full version: The Ocean Cleanups Latest Invention Collects 110,000 Pounds of Trash From Rivers Each Day
The ultimate resource for design industry professionals, brought to you by the editors of Architectural Digest
Founded in 2013 by Slat, The Ocean Cleanup aims to solve the problem of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans by using a fleet of high-technology floating trash collectors. The then 18-year-old Slat was inspired to dedicate his life to cleaning up the ocean after a scuba-diving expedition on which he saw more plastic trash than wildlife. After quitting his astrophysics degree to focus on ocean cleanup full-time, Slat attracted international attention for a series of proposals to collect and recycle trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Compared to Slat’s other experiments, the Interceptor aims to collect low-hanging fruit, plastic trash, as it floats down the world’s most polluted rivers before reaching the sea. The Ocean Cleanup has determined that only 1,000 rivers are responsible for roughly 80 percent of riverine trash pollution worldwide, meaning that its vessels can have a large impact on the health of the world’s oceans by focusing on only the world’s most polluted rivers. [links]
The plan involved an automated system that would create a floating artificial coastline to catch plastic as it drifted on ocean currents. What followed was a $20 million experiment that didn’t quite work, providing the organization not with the ecological breakthrough they had envisioned, but instead with what Slat gamely called “unscheduled learning opportunities.” An updated, and simplified, version of that first prototype, dubbed System 001/B, has finally begun collecting plastic in the Pacific Ocean.
The boat is fully run by solar-powered energy, which can be seen in the blue along the edges. [links]
Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski are two Australian surfers who came together in 2015 to develop a clever floating bin: the Seabin. It is used to filter plastic and some of the oils, detergents and fuels floating in ports, docks and marinas around the world.
Main causes of marine pollution.
Fishermen in Kerala, India's southernmost state, are part of an innovative ocean clean-up project promoted by the local authorities. The name of the project is Suchitwa Sagaram (Clean Ocean). For a few months now, the fishing boats that go out to fish these waters have been collecting waste plastic on each trip and bringing it back to port. [links]
The innovative thing about this campaign, which involves trawlers and members of the local fishing community, most of them women, is that it is not just about recovering plastic from the ocean. Once back on dry land, it is put into a special crusher, which turns it into raw material for surfacing roads. To date, the government of Kerala has managed to recover more than 25 tonnes of plastic.
© 4Ocean: Alex Schulz and Andrew Cooper were inspired by the pollution they saw in an Indonesian fishing village to promote this initiative. [links]
4Ocean is a project created by two American surfers in 2017. Alex Schulz and Andrew Cooper were inspired by the pollution they saw in an Indonesian fishing village to promote this initiative, which in just two years has collected 1,930 tonnes of ocean plastic in 27 countries and employs more than 150 people worldwide. [links]
At current rates, it’s predicted that there will be ten times more plastic in our oceans by 2020, and more plastic than fish by 2050, meaning it’s never been more important to work towards a global fix.
“Education is the real solution because if we cannot turn off the tap to plastics entering our oceans, how are we ever going to clean it up?” said CEO and co-founder Pete Ceglinski. here
It’s important to mention that plastic remains an incredibly useful material, but steps can be taken to improve its production and subsequent disposal. Leading companies like HP and IKEA are increasingly committing to circular economy principles, which is another major step in solving the causes of plastic pollution, not just the symptoms. That includes closed-loop recycling, where a company uses the latest tech to collect waste from its products post-consumer and recycle it into new products.
The science and tech communities have also been collaborating with governments and big business on innovative solutions to stop the eight million tonnes of plastic that is dumped into oceans every year.
Kite Patch keeps mosquitoes at bay for up to 48 hours, by blocking the insects’ ability to smell carbon dioxide in human exhalation. The sticker-like patch affixes to clothing, and helps to stop the spread of diseases such as malaria, West Nile Virus and Dengue Fever.
Seabin is an automated marina rubbish bin that collects floating rubbish, debris and oil, 24/7. The new invention aims to help solve and prevent ocean pollution by replacing the “trash boats” that currently serve marinas around the world.
Waste treatment company GENeco has come up with a groundbreaking new invention - the trash and sewage-guzzling BioBus. The first BioBus is currently active in the United Kingdom, shuttling passengers back and forth every day from Bristol Airport. more
Designed by two Swedish students, Hövding is a stylish neck collar that contains an airbag helmet that inflates in the case of an accident. The new invention is available in select stores in Europe - and no doubt we'll be “seeing" more of Hövding in the near future. more