An ambitious project to clean up the 88,000 tons of plastic floating in the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” has begun. On Sunday, the Ocean Cleanup Project started towing its “Ocean Cleanup System 001” from San Francisco to a trial site some 240 nautical miles (260 miles) away. Once it arrives, the wind and waves will push System 001 into a U-shape and it will slowly drift along on its own. A 10-foot long skirt hanging below will collect pieces of plastic as small as a millimeter in size, and smaller boats will later scoop them up and take them to shore for recycling.
This is How We Clean 88,000 Tons of Plastic From the Ocean
By Heather Callaghan, Editor
I wish we could say that there are only 88,000 tons of plastic in all of our oceans. But really, there is 88,000 tons of plastic in an area known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Luckily, each journey of a thousand steps begins with one and one group has already taken that step.
The Ocean Technology Cleanup “system consists of a 600-meter-long floater that sits at the surface of the water and a tapered 3-meter-deep skirt attached below. The floater provides buoyancy to the system and prevents plastic from flowing over it, while the skirt stops debris from escaping underneath.” (Source)
As reports continue to surface of nanoplastics making their way into waterways, tap and bottled water, land and vegetation – it’s high time immediate action is taken to clean up at least one of the sources of plastic pollution.
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Engadget reports:
During the two week trial, the system will be “extensively monitored” to make sure it does the job while not harming plankton and other critical marine life. “We want to catch plastic, not fish,” Joost Dubois from The Ocean Cleanup told CNN. “We’re trying to solve an environmental problem so we need to make sure we don’t create a bigger problem in its place.”
The Ocean Technology Cleanup can clean half the Pacific every five years. That may not seem like much but it’s a huge step toward cleanup and can keep more plastics from breaking down into ocean microplastics.
If nothing else, the technology shows us that it is possible to reverse the damage. The possibilities are there.
Is this how we clean up 88,000 tons of plastics? #plastic #plasticpollution 🌎🌊🥤🚿🚯https://t.co/tUj6b6IqOm
— Heather Callaghan (@healynC) September 21, 2018
This article (This is How We Clean 88,000 Tons of Plastic From the Ocean) was created by and appeared first at Natural Blaze. It can be reshared with attribution but MUST include link to homepage, bio, intact links and this message.Â
Heather Callaghan is an Energy Healer, consultant, independent researcher/writer, speaker and food & health freedom advocate. She is the Editor and co-founder of NaturalBlaze as well as a certified Self-Referencing IITM Practitioner. She has written over 1,200 articles and wants readers to empower themselves to take back their health!
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