Ridding the world’s oceans of plastic is a massive ambition. It’s so massive it honestly sounds like a ridiculous pursuit to even entertain, which is probably why the Ocean Cleanup is a fascinating thing. People applaud it, some experts say it’ll never work, it broke down on its maiden voyage, and objectively, cleaning existing trash from the ocean is only one part of a much larger problem. Still, a guy who’s barely old enough to drink in the U.S. is earnestly attempting to “rid the world’s oceans of plastic.” Those are the exact words he uses to declare his goal. Still sounds crazy.
When the Cleanup’s System 001, aka Wilson, broke down late last year, Slat and his group got right back to work on repairing and upgrading their creation. They’ve been assuring people for months they’d come back with a better product to launch back out into the Pacific and now Slat’s announced they’re ready to start testing the potential design upgrades, which include either inflatable buoys and/or a sea anchor (which is really just a giant parachute). These upgrades, they theorize, will ensure System 001/B actually retains the plastic it captures.
“We do not know with certainty that these proposed options will solve the issues we have encountered,” Slat wrote. “In fact, there may still be further unknowns, as is the nature of doing something that has never been done before. What we do know, is that every day we are not yet operational the plastic pollution problem is not getting better.”
Critics be damned. This guy’s determined.
