Boyan Slat: Cleaning up 300 million tons of ocean plastic
By Frosty Wooldridge
“Once there was the Stone Age, then the Bronze Age, and now we are in the middle of the Plastic Age,” said teenager Boyan Slat. “Every year, we produce 300 million tons of plastic. Much of it reaches our oceans.”
(We must clean plastic out of our oceans by utilizing 25 cent deposit-return laws internationally if we hope to save all the creatures in the oceans from dying horrible deaths by plastic ingestion, trapped in nets and killed by poisons. We need more ideas like Boyan Slat’s to correct our folly upon the planet.)
At 16 years of age, Boyan Slat scuba dived off Greece in the Mediterranean Sea to see more debris floating on and under the surface.
He said, “At first, I thought I was swimming through strange jellyfish. Instead, I swam through more plastic bags than fish.”
Seeing all the ocean trash, he asked himself, “Why not clean it up?”
Slat quit his Aerospace Engineering studies to create www.TheOceanCleanup.com in order to fund his research on how to pick up all the plastic trash floating on the oceans of the world. Researchers discovered that 46,000 pieces of plastic float on every square mile of Earth’s oceans. That plastic debris stems from billions of humans around the planet tossing their plastic into rivers, streams and directly into the oceans. Thousands of ships, boats and luxury cruisers toss millions of pieces of plastic day in and day out across the globe. Plastic does not break down. It oxidizes slowly into smaller pieces, but it never degrades.
Today, we find plastics in the tissue of birds, fish, whales, turtles, dolphins and just about every creature that feeds in the world’s oceans. Plastic debris constitutes a biological nightmare whose consequences reach decades into the future.
Additionally, with the five major gyres revolving in the oceans of the world, in excess of 100,000,000 (million) tons of plastic gather in giant ocean-going garbage patches. You may Google “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean 1,000 miles off the coast of San Francisco. It grows from 60 to 90 feet deep in places. It kills millions of sea birds, turtles, sharks, dolphins and whales.
Slat said, “We stuff the oceans with enough plastic equal to the weight of 1,000 X’s the Eiffel Tower. It ranges from plastic nets to miniscule pieces. It’s doing tremendous damage to our marine life, reefs and all ocean creatures.”
Being a brilliant as well as naive teenager, Boyan Slat decided to construct designs of some contraptions that would scoop up millions of tons of plastic floating on our oceans. Because of his enormous ideas, TED TALKS invited him to bring his ideas to a wider audience. Enjoy the 11-minute speech below. You will be shocked at what you see happening to our oceans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROW9F-c0kIQ
Because of my worldwide scuba diving experiences, I saw the progression of plastics since 1965 when corporations first initiated plastics into the biosphere of this planet.
The plastic pollution problem
- Millions of tons of plastic have entered the oceans.
- Plastic concentrates in five rotating currents, called gyres.
- In these gyres there is on average 6 X’s more plastic than zooplankton by dry weight.
- 1/3 of all oceanic plastic is within the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Slat’s brilliant strategy combines his love of diving with his love of the biology of the oceans. He created a solar powered trawler in the shape of a manta ray that sweeps through the gyres 24/7 to pick up surface plastic, chew it up and store it in huge bins for collection. He also created floating booms that allow the oceans to sweep the plastics into their lairs for efficient pickup. When you see the designs, it will blow your mind.
“If we want to do something different to save our oceans,” he said. “We have to think differently. Ironically, those who throw their plastics face consequences. Ocean going ships spend $1 billion annually in repairs from plastic clogging their propellers and intakes.”
Ecological effects
- At least one million seabirds, and one hundred thousand marine mammals die each year due to plastic pollution. It’s probably much higher.
- Lantern fish in the North Pacific Gyre eat up to 24,000 tons plastics per year.
- The survival of many species, including the Hawaiian Monk Seal and Loggerhead Turtle, could be jeopardized by plastic debris.
- Plastic pollution is a carrier of invasive species, threatening native ecosystems.
Boyan Slat, a teenager, stands at the head of his class in creating solutions for the folly of humanity. He needs your support. Join him.
Health effects
- Toxic chemicals (including PCBs and DDTs) are adsorbed by the plastic, increasing the concentration a million times.
- After entering the food chain, these persistent organic pollutants bio-accumulate in the food chain.
- Health effects linked to these chemicals are: cancer, malformation and impaired reproductive ability.
If ever humanity needs leaders to stand up and be counted, we need more Boyan Slat’s to lead us out of our ransacking our planet home toward a biologically healthy future.
##
Frosty Wooldridge
Golden, CO
Www.HowToLiveALifeOfAdventure.com
Www.frostywooldridge.com
Six continent world bicycle traveler
Speaker/writer/adventurer
Adventure book: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art of Exploring the World
Latest book: How to Deal with 21st Century American Women: Co-creating a successful relationship
Distributor for: www.lifevantage.com ; write me for further information on improving your health.
ABC News special report 11 minute video stand-alone medical breakthrough on anti-aging:
http://abcliveit.com/site/ABC_Investigative_Report_%26_Update.html
Dr. Alice Reed, MD, 10 minute ground breaking presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2_DqTZcI90
PROTANDIM -
The only patented, peer-reviewed “Nrf2″ synergizer on the planet that is scientifically proven to reduce oxidative stress by an average of 40 percent in 30 days in 100 percent of all mammals 100 percent of the time. Oxidative stress is the one common cause of over 200 health concerns and diseases. It is physically impossible to consume enough anti-oxidants in a day to do what one Protandim caplet daily does. Scientifically proven to reduce oxidative stress in 30 days by 40 to 70 percent, Protandim turns back your internal age to that of a 20 year old. It allows you to dance into your 50s, 60s , 70s and beyond.
What is “Nrf2″? Answer: “High levels of free radicals turn on a specific protein in the cell’s nucleus; called Nrf2. Activation of Nrf2 essentially opens the door for the production of a vast array of our body’s most important antioxidants.”
Frosty Wooldridge, six continent world bicycle traveler, Canada to Mexico summer 2014, 2,200 miles, 100,000 vertical feet of climbing:
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!
Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!
HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.
Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.
MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)
Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!
Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.
Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).
300 million tons of plastic sounds like a huge money maker, so why the .25 tax added. Someone is going to make a lot of money hauling that plastic in to the recycle facility. They probably even have their own reality show . . . Most Dangerous Milk Jug/Catch.
We need a 25 cent deposit-return law internationally to stop the endless plastic pollution before it destroys the ecology of our oceans and contaminates our food chain. Plastics break down to particles and carry chemicals that then transfer to marine life. They lose and we lose. We just can’t keep destroying our food source and the oceans themselves. Slat’s invention won’t get all the plastic at the bottom of the oceans. It’s going to roll around at the bottom destroying marine life and worse for decades and decades. We need to be proactive if we hope to clear up the oceans. fw