Did you read about the young entrepreneur who is passionate about the environment? Well, meet Boyan Slat, the twenty-five-year-old Dutch engineer who came up with the idea of a contraption that would clean the garbage from the oceans. His organization, The Ocean Cleanup, has successfully collected two whole containers of waste from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is the first time in history that getting rid of ocean trash has been given some importance.
How does the contraption work? Slat has deployed his cleanup machines, along the key ocean current movements. This helps the toxic plastic waste to enter the machine naturally, and it is then brought up to the shore for recycling. These ocean cleanup vessels can capture one-millimeter small microplastics too!
Slat’s next mission is to deal with the root problem of water pollution, the littered rivers of the world. The Ocean Cleanup, his organization, has concluded after thorough research that 80% of the oceanic trash is brought by the world’s rivers. The aim is to nip the pollution in the bud with the new invention, The Interceptor.
By extending a water-permeable barrier in the river, the solar-powered Interceptor can collect the garbage. The plastic waste is scooped out of the water body with the help of a conveyor belt attached to the vessel. The waste is deposited onto a shuttle and then into one of the six dumpsters that are monitored by the crew present onshore. The dumpster which sits on a different barge is removed by a boat and taken for recycling. How effective is the Interceptor? It can extract up to 220,000 pounds of waste every day.
The Ocean Cleanup aims to reduce water pollution by removing trash from the most polluted river by 2025. The vessel is not very difficult to build which makes it more easily accessible to the countries with low budgets for tackling environmental issues. The organization is willing to help anyone who can get their local government to take the initiative of cleaning the rivers. How can you get in touch with them? Visit their website and check the “Nominate your River” option which lists the top 1000 polluted rivers across the globe too! If you wish to contribute to the smooth operation of Interceptors, donate $50 and bag one of their recycled product from the cleanup at the Pacific.
Small steps matter in making the world a better place!
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