There is going to be less plastic in the ocean because of this innovative Dutch Ocean Cleanup project

You may have heard about the Ocean Cleanup prohect last year, when Dutch innovator Boyan Slat came up with an ambitious plan to try and clean up the ocean of plastic. Well, next week it will officially launch in California.

What is the ‘Ocean Cleanup?’

The Ocean Cleanup is a not-for-profit project that aims to ‘rid the world of plastic.’ How? By creating a 600-meter-long floater, that sits on the surface on the water, along with a tapered 3-metered-deep skirt which is attached underneath it. The floater stops plastic flowing over it and the skirt stops plastic from flowing under it – this way all plastic flowing through it can be collected. By using this system, they are estimating that 50% of the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ will be cleaned up within 5 years. This collected plastic will then be recycled and sold on. The profits for this will then create more funding for other cleanups. Incredible, huh?

He’s only in his early 20s and he’s already created something great in order to help our environment.

Plastic in the ocean

The negative impact that humans and our waste is having on sea life has been discussed heavily over the past couple of years. This is especially in relation to plastic, that is quite literally littering our oceans. This plastic breaks down into small particles, fooling animals into believing it is food. They are then dying due to this poisoning. Sometimes there is so much plastic that it breaks down microscopically. If you happen to sail through it, you wouldn’t even notice that it’s polluted.

This plastic gathers in five regions of the world, which are natural points in which rubbish gathers, due to the tide. One of these we mentioned earlier: the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’, where 50% is estimated to be collected due to this innovative new project. This is the largest patch, out of the remaining 4.

*Cover pic: Flickr // Jedimentat44