THE OCEAN CLEANUP

Plastics are a huge problem nowadays. As Boyan Slat says, we are in the Plastic Era and these are find everywhere: in our food, our houses, our schools, etc. In this actual society it would be impossible to live without them.

In almost all earth coastlines, dead animals such as turtles, fish, birds and also some big whales are found, trapped by plastic, it is not a biodegradable material so it lasts for a long period of time, causing a great environmental impact.
Not only big plastics are dangerous for the whole environment but also the small particles, specially the phthalates. As I've said in the previous post, "Learning about phthalates", these small particles are very harmful for not only the environment but for us. They escape easily into the environment and are found in products in which we have a high exposure.

fabrique3d.com/en/ocean-cleanup-2open_in_new

Boyan Slat is a 23 year old Dutch inventor with an awesome idea to clean up the oceans from plastics. He started the project in 2013 and since that year he and his engineering team have been working in the Ocean Cleanup project.
With this brilliant idea, a lot of work and energy are saved. Plastic waste moves with ocean currents so no energy is needed. Then plastics are collected naturally in big arrays that act like artificial coastlines, trapping all the plastic particles, but allowing the animals to go underneath this barrier. Then big towers store and pack the plastic and wait till its collected.
Using this method it is estimated to collect the whole waste in the Northern Pacific Ocean patch in only 10 years.

link

In my opinion, this new solution to fight with the plastic garbage is incredible. Not only because of its effectiveness, but because of its simplicity. This action also empowers the young population. Boyan Slat has been able with only 20 years to create a solution to this actual problem, so it means that in the recent future, young population will have much more importance and impact in our societies than before. Being able to solve similar problems and to create new inventions. 
As I said before, I think this idea is completely helpful to clean up the oceans from plastic waste. But cleaning the ocean is not useful if the world population is not concerned with the damage it can be done by throwing a simple plastic bag. It would better to educate the population, specially the children, and to raise awereness with not throwing and recycling plastic products.

-Sources of information:
https://www.theoceancleanup.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ocean_Cleanup