#ocean cleanup

[reasonsforhope]

SYSTEM 002 IN 2022

“We captured our first plastic from the [Great Pacific Garbage Patch] in 2019 with [our ship] System 001/B, and since then we’ve been refining our steering strategy and deepening our understanding of plastic behavior in the oceans.

In 2021 we introduced System 002, and having now demonstrated that our system can consistently harvest significant amounts of plastic, we’re currently in transition to System 03 – our largest and most efficient cleanup system so far.

After demonstrating Proof of Technology the previous year, 2022 was all about cleaning. It was a successful year for The Ocean Cleanup in the GPGP:

System 002: 2022 in numbers

8 trips into the GPGP on cleaning operations

Over 150 days at sea (including transit)

153,000 kg of plastic removed from the GPGP in 2022

4 consecutive trips with catch totals over 25,000 kg

99.9% of catch comprising only plastic

The continuity of cleaning operations during this transition was essential in demonstrating that we are moving towards our efficiency targets and progressing our plan for scale-up. Significant milestones such as the extraction that brought us over the 100,000 kg barrier in the GPGP are documented and shared with our growing community of supporters worldwide, aiding the visibility of our mission and highlighting the urgency of the plastic pollution problem...

PRIORITIZING THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT

We are committed to maximizing our net positive impact on the marine environment. In that light, we place particular importance on one particular figure from our 2022 data: 99.9%. This is the amount of our total catch that consists of plastic, leaving a level of bycatch of 0.1%.

While this is not perfect and we are working hard to reduce it further, we believe this data shows that our mitigation measures and animal protection procedures are working effectively so far. We have also seen a reduction in bycatch rates during the year (see our January 2022 mid-term evaluation) as we implement new learnings and modifications.

Our environmental performance is a result of the measures we have taken since we began our ocean operations. Our systems move very slowly, meaning fish and marine animals can easily swim away, and our crew always has the option of triggering the emergency release to free any animal which has become trapped in the Retention Zone; although this results in the loss of any plastic which has been captured, we keep this option available for any serious encounters.

Upgrades to be implemented during the transition to System 03 include more underwater cameras to allow us to more closely monitor encounters with marine life, and increasing the number of openings throughout the system to allow animals to swim out. We will also be trialing various new deterrent and mitigation measures during 2023, working with our in-house and third-party marine biologists to ensure that we continue to reduce any type of bycatch to the minimal level possible.”

-via The Ocean Cleanup, 12/15/22

[probablyasocialecologist]

In 2012, Dutch teenager Boyan Slat presented a TED Talk on his concept for cleaning up the ocean with simple mechanisms to sweep up all the trash. While scientists and plastics experts cautioned that his ideas were ineffective, Slat’s non-profit the Ocean Cleanup, founded the year after his talk went viral, has gained millions of followers and big-name backers, including Salesforce, Maersk, KIA, and PayPal’s Peter Thiel. But the venture had one major problem: its first two designs didn’t work, despite the group burning through tens of millions of dollars over the course of a decade. The Ocean Cleanup has since pivoted to work with upstream river “interceptors” that are much more efficient at capturing garbage, but its website still prominently features its latest ocean debris “solution”—essentially a trawl fishing net dragged between two boats that has, to date, collected a comparatively miniscule amount of trash. Tech projects like these are more of a curse than a blessing. Even if the Ocean Cleanup one day somehow beats the insurmountable odds and removes all surface-level traces of plastic marine pollution, it’d still be missing the vast majority of waste that sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor, or breaks up into tiny microplastics. While companies like these bring increased attention to the plastics crisis, they’re ultimately flashy gimmicks that lull our public consciousness into thinking a clever gadget can solve a collective-action problem. These projects also allow consumer brands—like Coca-Cola, an official “Global Implementation Partner” of Slat’s group—to greenwash their continued massive plastic production, while lobbying behind-the-scenes against regulations that would actually help the world break its plastic addiction.  “We now know that we can’t start to reduce plastic pollution without a reduction of production,” environmental scientists Imari Walker-Franklin and Jenna Jambeck write in the introduction to their forthcoming study, Plastics. To meaningfully address this crisis and others like it, we need to look upstream, invest in reuse infrastructure, and mandate biodegradable packaging and high material recyclability. At a minimum, we need to start making producers bear the cost for the collection and disposal of their poorly designed goods.

[rebeccarhelm]

OK, it literally took someone SWIMMING from Hawaii to California to discover this, but wow did we find something shocking in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch...

I'm a scientist, and it all started when this guy name Benoît Lecomte started swimming. He'd already freestyle'd his way from Japan to Hawaii, and now he was going to California. SWIMMING. And luckily for me and my science team, his mission was clear:

Swim through the heart of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Benoît wanted to see, with his own eyes, what was actually out there. And we did, too. So, we teamed up. With one stroke at a time, for months, Benoît swam. While he did, a crew member on the ship that tracked him through the ocean took samples of the surface water. Our science team monitored the location of the patch, guiding Benoît right to it. At first, before they entered the patch, those net samples looked empty. But then...

BAM.

Benoît swam into the patch and we found something unbelievable: LIFE. Life living out there totally separate from plastic. When I told the person who discovered the Garbage Patch, Capt. Charles Moore, he wasn't surprised. "Oh I call that part of the ocean Neptunes Desert Nursery" he said. The name "Garbage Parch" came second. And there it was, blue floating life everywhere.

An ecosystem hardly anyone studies. Let me introduce you. In the video above you can see:

Blue sea dragon nudibranchs, and there's at least one species that's only ever been found in this desert nursery...

Violet snails, which float on bubble rafts...

By-the-wind sailor jellies (eaten by blue-sea dragons and violet snails)...

Pink and purple man-o-war...

And blue button jellies...

Not in this video are hundreds of species of baby fish, and juvenile sea turtles, all of which shelter at the ocean's surface because this part of the ocean is calm and quiet, at the center of swirling currents, a safe place to hide.

These animals are moved by the currents, just like plastic. If you look at the amount of plastic and the amount of life, they line up: More plastic, more life. And that's when I realized...

These "garbage patches" are so much more, they're beautiful and mysterious regions of the ocean, not empty space, and while many people want to clean them up, it's so frighteningly clear to me now that you can't use nets to clean plastic without scooping up this Pacific Desert Nursery.

When Benoît left this garbage patch/nursery ground, that thick meadow of life thinned, and by the time he reached California, the surface was largely empty again. What Ben did is remarkable, not only for his unbelievable power and courage but for what he helped discover.

We must stop plastic BEFORE it enters the ocean. Thanks to people like Benoît and Capt. Moore, we now know what is at stake: Not a Garbage Patch, but the beautiful, blue, ocean oasis, which just happens to be in the same spot as a lot of plastic.

To learn more about our study, including links to our work: https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1654536756493156357

And to learn about the only good way (so far) to remove ocean plastic from the garbage patch, check out this resource below: https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1572670307411939332

[onyx-turtle]

I've finally started up a Tumblr account and need to build up my fyp brick by brick. The world is going into crisis mode, and what better way to deal with it than make a new social media account? The future is Hemp, environmentally friendly, land back, and free (probs more than that, that's just my focus in life). Hopefully, we'll get through this fam. Lemme know where to go if you see this. I'm still new to navigating Tumblr (I'm almost 30, I'll get it)

[bumblebeeappletree]

Inventor Boyan Slat is on a mission to rid oceans of plastic. His team at The Ocean Cleanup designs and deploys systems that pull trash from the open ocean. Now, he’s stopping the pollution at its source: rivers where plastic is easier to catch, like those in Kingston Harbor, Jamaica.

Each year an estimated four million tons of plastic end up in the world’s oceans, killing thousands of marine creatures and accumulating up the food chain. The plastic gathers in five massive ocean gyres, the largest of which, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, holds 87,000 tons of trash. After years of research, The Ocean Cleanup has created a system that removes 7000 kilograms of trash from the sea every day and a half; the team aims to remove 90% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by 2040.

But plastics keep flowing into the ocean, largely from the world’s polluted rivers. In Jamaica, Boyan’s team has teamed up with Alecia Beaufort and a local group cleaning up their waterways. Together, they’ve deployed a new system to trap plastic at the source as it flows downriver during a storm. Their success has inspired others to join the effort, creating a virtuous cycle of citizen action.

[jonnylovers-in-neverland]

Coldplay with the Ocean Cleanup CEO Boyan Slat in Jakarta | 15.11.2023

The Ocean Cleanup and Coldplay are delighted to announce a renewal of our partnership as part of The Ocean Cleanup’s mission to rid the oceans of plastic. Coldplay teamed up with The Ocean Cleanup in 2018, sponsoring Interceptor 005 and helping us take an early step forward in our campaign to tackle the world’s most polluting rivers. Following the success of Interceptor 005 in Malaysia, supported by Coldplay and given the name ‘Neon Moon I’, we will now deploy a second Interceptor, currently under assembly and destined for the river Cisadane in Jakarta, Indonesia: Interceptor 020, or ‘Neon Moon II’.  Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, and the members of Coldplay announced the renewal together on November 15 as Coldplay prepared to begin the next phase of their record-breaking Music of the Spheres world tour on Wednesday, November 15, in Jakarta. As well as contributing to Interceptor 005, Coldplay has also been screening footage of The Ocean Cleanup’s operations to their fans before their performances – bringing our message to millions of music lovers worldwide. Interceptor 005, together with Interceptor 002, has formed a central part of The Ocean Cleanup’s operations in the river Klang in Malaysia, with over 1 million kilograms prevented from reaching the oceans and helping to contribute to a cleaner environment for the local community. Both The Ocean Cleanup and Coldplay are proud to continue working together to tackle this global challenge with Neon Moon II. “It’s so exciting for us to have Coldplay on board and to be making such a huge impact together against plastic pollution in Asia,” said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. “We say a massive thanks to Coldplay for their help, and we can’t wait to see Neon Moon II in action and intercepting waste soon.” We are thankful for the financial support of all partners, enabling us to realize this project. The deployment of Interceptor 020 is part of The Ocean Cleanup’s Global Implementation Partnership – find out more about our operation to capture plastic in the Cisadane here.

[kevin-cable-photography]

little news ears https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VMSQeeWvjo&t=3s everyone should work together and share how to save our oceans. News For Kids on Little News Ears #littlenewsears #savetheoceans #plastics #oceanpollution #newsforkids #kidsnews #littlenewsears #nevaehcable

[sennetrip]

Illustration for The World Today about the future of waste and how the earth is drowning in rubbish

[autumn2may]

ahhhhh! my whale shark came in! :D :D :D

is so cuuuuute! okay so. STORY TIME

this whale shark is made from flip-flops pulled out of the ocean in Kenya. the company, Ocean Sole, pays locals to collect the shoes from the beaches and rivers, then employs artisans from the area to carve them into cool animals and stuff! then they use the profits to help collect more shoes! AND they use the scraps to stuff mattresses for refugee camps!

AND have i mentioned this guy IS THE CUTEST!?!?!

you can buy stuff in their shop here. and you can watch a video of how they make the stuff below. V

overall: ten stars would buy again! :D

(also thank you to my little bro for the the late Christmas pressie!)

[needtoseethisthrough]

This team has accomplished real and positive change to the world's oceans, and their YouTube channel has less than 400k subscribers?

Not only do they share their successes but also share their failures, and they are learning from them and improving all the time.

Their videos and their story are amazing. They show the horrific amount of garbage they are cleaning up. They show us that when humans put their minds together, what was thought to be hopeless and impossible becomes just the opposite.

Please subscribe to this channel. They deserve more subscribers and views than any other YouTuber that is putting their lives on display or doing stupid shit for views.

[reasonsforhope]

Update on Ocean Cleanup, the same group that removed 20,000 pounds of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 2021!

Ocean Cleanup's "Interceptor 007" caught 35,000 lbs of trash in its trial run in Los Angeles county!

No articles with extensive details yet because this just broke on December 5th, but you can find BoingBoing’s short article on the successful trial here, and an October 2022 article about the installation of the Interceptor 007 from here.

“The Ocean Cleanup agreed to test its new Interceptor 007 garbage collection barge in Los Angeles' Ballona Creek. During its first rainstorm, the vehicle stopped an incredible amount of trash from pouring into Santa Monica bay.“ -via BoingBoing 12/6/22

[wachinyeya]

Ocean CleanUp Launches Huge System in Pacific Garbage Patch to Clean a Football Field Every 5 Seconds https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/ocean-cleanup-launches-system-3-to-clean-football-field-every-5-seconds/

[avidbeader]

Hey, take a look and consider grabbing this if you didn't get a chance before!

[greentechspot]