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Turns Out That ‘Boy Genius’ Who Said That He Could Make The Ocean To Clean Itself Was Right
Boyan Slat is a 23-year-old Dutch inventor and entrepreneur who started building engineering projects since when he was 2 and first truly impressed the world by securing a Guinness World Record at the age of 14 when launched 213 water rockets simultaneously. Now, Slat is aiming for a much bigger goal — cleaning the ocean of plastic.
Back in 2011, while diving in Greece, Boyan noticed that there was more plastic in the water than there were fish. He decided to devote all his time to try and rid the ocean of plastic pollution, going as far as dropping his studies. Two years later he founded The Ocean Cleanup and hosted a TEDx talk to introduce his idea to use the natural water currents. He first set out to test the system in Japan, but later focused on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, setting a goal to clean half of the plastic waste in 5 years.
The Ocean Cleanup develops technology that would help rid the ocean of the plastic waste and after raising over $2.2 million, the organization launched a huge research in 2014. They studied the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to prepare for the full-scale deployment in 2020. Using the data acquired, they developed technology and set out to launch the first cleanup system in mid-2018.
More info: The Ocean Cleanup | Facebook | Twitter (h/t)
RELATED:
Meet Boyan Slat, a 23-year-old Dutch inventor and entrepreneur who set the world record at the age of 14
Back in 2011, Slat was diving in Greece and noticed that there was more plastic in the ocean than fish
After seeing that Slat decided to dedicate his time to try and clean the ocean of plastic waste
In 2013 he founded The Ocean Cleanup and launched an expedition to research the problem
They focused on the Great Pacific garbage patch, collecting samples with around 30 vessels
All the acquired waste was then transported to The Ocean Cleanup Project facility in Netherlands
Where it was analysed and sorted to help develop the ocean cleaning technology
Here’s what the research found
Using the research data, The Ocean Cleanup created a passive floating device that collects plastic
It uses the ocean currents to do all of the work, as the device floats freely and collects waste
The anchor keeps the installation at the needed level, as well as allows it to move slower than the plastic
The concentrated plastic can then be extracted and shipped to shore for recycling
Boyan Slat predicts that they will be able to clean half the patch in 5 years
Watch the video below to find out more about the project
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What do you think ?
Mixedupste 7 years ago
Because it's not some idiot celebrity or some royal getting wed or a country going to war thats why mate. Sad sad world!
Load More Replies...
Jef Bateman 7 years ago
If you want to help him out, you can donate at theoceancleanup.com. The donate button is at the bottom of the page.
d r e a m w o r l d 7 years ago
Thanks for telling me! Just sent 35 bucks :)
Load More Replies...
BREAK YOUr perceptions 7 years ago
so great to have young minds working on improving our tomorrow when so many of the old minds have given up on trying, stopped caring, or simply never cared at all. On i side note. i wonder if those currents and debris in the past could have caused the idea of disappearing islands.
Julie Lynn 7 years ago
Count me in! How can I help?! I already pick up others' waste on the California beaches by choice. I"d love to volunteer further. Please let me know how I can help other than trying to stop it before getting in the ocean to begin with. Thanks and GREAT WORK! Count Me IN!!
serge 7 years ago
It's great that someone is trying to take care of this problem, but is this all really that realistic? Disregarding the fact that this will only catch large, floating bits of plastic, whereas the tiny particles that are dispersed throughout the water column (and that enter the food chain) are mostly left where they are, it still seems difficult to do. A quick, back of the envelope calculation, shows that he'll need at least ~60,000 of these beams to clean up this amount of ocean in 5 years. Perhaps more, seeing as these are passive devices that are not 100% effective/efficient. Certainly possible, but is that really realistic? Is there really not a better engineering solution to this problem? I really hope this doesn't turn out to be some kind of scam like for example Theranos.
Full Name 7 years ago
FFS, do some research on the what he's doing before spouting off. That's just intellectually lazy.
Load More Replies...
gaia 7 years ago
This has been proven several time not to be feasible by oceanographers and marine biologists. Essentially, not only is the structure itself not ocean-worthy, but it also would catch most marine life (fish, dolphins...) Here is an article from the Guardian that covers some of the criticism. Slat has ignored all of the criticism while gathering more money. If this project ever is deployed it would be a disaster for the ecosystem and wouldn't remove any plastic... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/26/ocean-cleanup-project-environment-pollution-boyan-slat
Joe Bloe 7 years ago
And we don'T talk about the false number about ocean pollution...
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Paul O'Connor 7 years ago
The writing on this article is awful! C'mon Bored Panda, that sort of thing loses you credibility.
Load More Replies...
Dumpling Yang 7 years ago
Someone said that since his project focuses on collecting floating trash, fish eggs that stick to things such as plastic will be brought away and soon the fish of those species will be gone. But I'm not sure, I only wrote a small essay on him.
Load More Replies...
GalaxyInAJar 7 years ago
Will this affect the marine life? Or is it so limited in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that that's not a problem?
Full Name 7 years ago
His nets are really close to the surface because the vast majority of the plastic is within a foot of the surface. This is not at all like giant fishing nets.
Load More Replies...
Zori the degu 7 years ago
You are my hero, Mr Slat! I'll keep track on your project, your team does something of vital importance to all of us, all living beings!
Mixedupste 7 years ago
Because it's not some idiot celebrity or some royal getting wed or a country going to war thats why mate. Sad sad world!
Load More Replies... Jef Bateman 7 years ago
If you want to help him out, you can donate at theoceancleanup.com. The donate button is at the bottom of the page.
d r e a m w o r l d 7 years ago
Thanks for telling me! Just sent 35 bucks :)
Load More Replies... BREAK YOUr perceptions 7 years ago
so great to have young minds working on improving our tomorrow when so many of the old minds have given up on trying, stopped caring, or simply never cared at all. On i side note. i wonder if those currents and debris in the past could have caused the idea of disappearing islands.
Julie Lynn 7 years ago
Count me in! How can I help?! I already pick up others' waste on the California beaches by choice. I"d love to volunteer further. Please let me know how I can help other than trying to stop it before getting in the ocean to begin with. Thanks and GREAT WORK! Count Me IN!!
serge 7 years ago
It's great that someone is trying to take care of this problem, but is this all really that realistic? Disregarding the fact that this will only catch large, floating bits of plastic, whereas the tiny particles that are dispersed throughout the water column (and that enter the food chain) are mostly left where they are, it still seems difficult to do. A quick, back of the envelope calculation, shows that he'll need at least ~60,000 of these beams to clean up this amount of ocean in 5 years. Perhaps more, seeing as these are passive devices that are not 100% effective/efficient. Certainly possible, but is that really realistic? Is there really not a better engineering solution to this problem? I really hope this doesn't turn out to be some kind of scam like for example Theranos.
Full Name 7 years ago
FFS, do some research on the what he's doing before spouting off. That's just intellectually lazy.
Load More Replies... gaia 7 years ago
This has been proven several time not to be feasible by oceanographers and marine biologists. Essentially, not only is the structure itself not ocean-worthy, but it also would catch most marine life (fish, dolphins...) Here is an article from the Guardian that covers some of the criticism. Slat has ignored all of the criticism while gathering more money. If this project ever is deployed it would be a disaster for the ecosystem and wouldn't remove any plastic... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/26/ocean-cleanup-project-environment-pollution-boyan-slat
Joe Bloe 7 years ago
And we don'T talk about the false number about ocean pollution...
Load More Replies... Paul O'Connor 7 years ago
The writing on this article is awful! C'mon Bored Panda, that sort of thing loses you credibility.
Load More Replies... Dumpling Yang 7 years ago
Someone said that since his project focuses on collecting floating trash, fish eggs that stick to things such as plastic will be brought away and soon the fish of those species will be gone. But I'm not sure, I only wrote a small essay on him.
Load More Replies... GalaxyInAJar 7 years ago
Will this affect the marine life? Or is it so limited in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that that's not a problem?
Full Name 7 years ago
His nets are really close to the surface because the vast majority of the plastic is within a foot of the surface. This is not at all like giant fishing nets.
Load More Replies... Zori the degu 7 years ago
You are my hero, Mr Slat! I'll keep track on your project, your team does something of vital importance to all of us, all living beings!
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