The Ocean Cleanup Tackles The Great Pacific Garbage Patch This Weekend

This Saturday marks the beginning of The Ocean Cleanup, an ambitious new environmental project set on removing plastic from oceans. Founded by Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup is setting a goal of reducing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (off the coast of Alameda, California) by 50% in 5 years, and by 90% by 2040. The technology, titled System 001 is a 600 meter tube that floats on the surface water, collecting about 5 tons of plastic a month. There’s been some pushback due to the efficacy of the program—The Ocean Cleanup would need to remove 14,000 tons of plastic per year to hit its goals—but System 001 is still a beta project. Not only is the organization working on an 002, but if 001 proves to be successful it would result in additional deployment of the system and most likely further R&D into this solution. Besides, these kinds of efforts are always encouraged, especially as the urgency of the problem is becoming more apparent to people. Plastic pollution in oceans is a cause that’s near and dear to us and our fellow A Hotel Lifers, so check out The Ocean Cleanup to learn more about the ways people are trying to combat it.

[System 001]

[System 001]

[Great Pacific Garbage Patch]