Summers, Hannah. “Scientists Get Ready to Begin Great Pacific Garbage Patch Cleanup.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Sept. 2018, www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/08/scientists-get-ready-to-begin-great-pacific-garbage-patch-cleanup.
A group of scientists and engineers are planning on making an invention that if works properly will really help the plastic issue in the ocean. They plan on creating a 600m-long floating barrier that will be launched off the coast of San Francisco. It will be powered by currents, waves, and wind and they estimate will collect five tonnes of plastic debris each month. The barrier is heading towards the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which is a stretch of water that is three times the size of France. While it is out in the ocean, the team expects to send a support vessel out every six weeks in order to remove all of the debris that have accumulated, which will be transferred to the Netherlands to be recycled.
I believe that this is an extremely good thing. It seems like the team who made it has put in a lot of time and effort into this and it will be extremely beneficial if it works the way that they plan. This issue is also a group effort, as if we keep putting in the same amount of plastic that we already do into the ocean, I am not sure that this will have as great of an impact as they hope. Of course it will greatly help the cause, but if we really want to maximize the efficiency of this machine then everyone really has to make an effort to prevent more trash from entering the ocean.
This is awesome! With a problem as big as plastic pollution in the ocean, it is necessary to develop solutions that fix what has already been done and prevent more damage from happening. Do you know when the barrier will reach the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?