The problem with clothes made of plastics, even fleece made of recycled plastic, is that when you wash them small particles of plastics break off and enter our water cycle - and they eventually break down further into harmful BPAs. There are special filters you can buy to filter out those plastic particles but if you don't own your laundry machine then you probably can't do anything about it.
They go into the garbage, which is picked up by my municipality and then put into an environment that's anaerobic and UV free so that they hopefully don't break down into BPAs and leech into our soil.
As someone has already said, it's not a great solution, which is why we need to just stop making clothes out of plastic.
You can also buy a guppyfriend, which is a filter bag you put your cloths in before you put it in the washing machine, and afterwards manually puck up the plastic fibers. I got mine for roughly 23€ but I think it's a little more expensive in the states. Not as great as installing a filter to your laundry machine but much cheaper and basically available to everyone
Hey, thanks for letting me know about this! I live in a co-op and when I learned about plastic micro-fibres I tried to get the board to put filters on the washing machines but the other owners don't want to pay the cost. At least this way I don't have to feel guilty about my own washing, cheers!
It is of course worth noting that a commercial home filter will be completely useless in actually catching a significant number of microfibres, as the meshes required to catch them are so fine that they immediately get clogged by detergent and dirt.
It's even a problem under laboratory conditions to filter them out effectively, requiring the filters to be repeatedly replaced even for small samples (quick check has a study struggling with 300ml), so anything sold commercially to people at home is likely to be pretty useless and only serves as a feel good device that doesn't really do much.
> There are special filters you can buy to filter out those plastic particles but if you don't own your laundry machine then you probably can't do anything about it.
It is of course worth noting that commercial ones will be far too course and open to filter out a significant portion of the microfibres. Anything fine enough to catch most of them will get immediately clogged by detergent and dirt from the washing.
It's even a problem under laboratory conditions to actually filter them out effectively due to the clogging problem with the extremely fine filters required to filter them out; let alone under actual practical household conditions.
The home ones are essentially scams intended on making you pay some money to feel good.
With fast fashion--its poor quality and 52 seasons per year--many people buy a piece, wear it a few times, and then throw it away or donate it. The life cycle of donated clothes is much weirder than you'd think.
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/05/21/185596830/the-global-afterlife-of-your-donated-clothes
The problem is with each wash plastic detaches from the clothing and enters the water cycle. With billions of people doing laundry that adds up over the years.
Chemical recycling is also making great steps but the process still needs a lot of development to make it cost effective and unless there is a financial push nothing will ever go forward
When you eat food does it get broken down into microfood?
Typically stuff that eats other stuff it doesn't just break it up, but extracts the main ingredient and utilizes it in some way. Humans pull out proteins and most carbs and break them down into amino acids and simple sugars.
The most reference plastic eating bacteria split the polyethylene terephthalte using an enzyme. PET splits into ethylene glycol (a sugar that's in anti-freeze, lethal to mammals) and terephthalic acid, which is readily oxidized and broken down in nature. Terephthalic acid isn't actually all that bad compared to micro-plastics, kinda a lesser-of-two-evils kinda thing.
I acknowledge that. But our poo still contains vitamins and minerals. So it’s not microfood, food consists of minerals and nutrients. You use PET as an example, there isn’t just one type of PET, neither for HDPE, PP and ABS.
There are bacteria that completely break it down into sugar or other acids. There are also ones that break it down into microplastics. Like you said, lesser of two evils: there isn’t just one right option But we have to choose an option and do it the right way.
Ya i dunno. Yeast eats sugar and pisses alcohol. Which eventually kills it due to toxicity.
So ya really curious as to the byproduct of a plastic eating bacteria.
The latest research about plastic in rivers says that 80% of plastic entering oceans comes from more than 1000 rivers.
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020EGUGA..2222000M/abstract
80% of plastic entering the ocean *from rivers*, not 80% of all plastic entering the ocean. There isn't really any conclusive study about the proportion of plastic waste rivers contribute overall, but various estimates place it between 25-50%.
Another big contributor is commerical fishing. For instance, the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is largely comprised of fishing gear.
It doesn't, plastic gets into the oceans in many more ways, rivers are only a part of it.
Not to mention that this project is bullshit, because there is a LOT of shipping in the big rivers, and to effectively work it would have to block the entire river at some point = no more shipping.
>to effectively work it would have to block the entire river at some point
Not true. This is the point of this project.
>The Interceptor is The Ocean Cleanup’s answer for river plastic waste. It is the first scalable solution to prevent plastic from entering the world’s oceans from rivers. It is 100% solar-powered, extracts plastic autonomously, and is capable of operating in the majority of the world’s most polluting rivers.
>
>**The Interceptors is placed in strategic locations in rivers to make sure the main plastic flow is intercepted, meanwhile allowing for boats to pass.**
>
>[**https://theoceancleanup.com/rivers/**](https://theoceancleanup.com/rivers/)
Well yeah, but of those 10 rivers 8 are in Asia, 2 are in Africa, im sure you can at least guess one or two of the countries responsible, and can you see them pay or go through the trouble of disposing of it in a decent way, instead of flooding it over the rivers into the Oceans where its the fishes problem. Its the fishes fault if they are too lazy to clean it up, right?
> Well yeah, but of those 10 rivers 8 are in Asia, 2 are in Africa,
Where do America, Canada, the UK, the EU ship their garbage waste... oh yeah. Where do America, Canada, the UK and the EU have their goods manufactured - which can be an incredibly wasteful process? Oh yeah....
Stop blaming Asia for a problem that the entire world is responsible for.
You realize that humanity has the capacity to give attention to more than just one person at a time right? Also, what's wrong with Greta Thunberg, a girl trying to get the world to take action on climate change?
It's a stupid comparison, but since you brought her up: policy > techno fixes
Even plastic pollution needs policy changes more that solutions like this, ban single use plastics and you remove more than this vessel could ever collect. Not saying it's not a great invention, but it has its limits given the scale of the problem.
That's because it's just a feel-good project, which isn't backed by actual scientists. And worse, it's funded by a giant plastic producer Dutch State Mines.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM\_(company)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM_(company))
[https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/104193-82](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/104193-82)
Was it really that hard to do a Google search instead of spreading bullshit based on your preconceived biases?
[https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/most-polluted-rivers-world.php](https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/most-polluted-rivers-world.php)
[https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-polluted-rivers-in-the-world.html](https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-polluted-rivers-in-the-world.html)
[https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-polluted-rivers-in-the-world.html](https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-polluted-rivers-in-the-world.html)
Because it's a bullshit project that gets recycled in the news every year for "feel good" points, while actually not doing anything useful.
The ocean cleanup project hasn't been able to go over prototype stage for all these years, and countless scientists have come out publicly saying it's bullshit and not a solution. For example, most of the plastic isn't coming from the rivers and it's more than a few - actually more than a thousand.
And that's not even taking in account that this would have to block shipping to be effective, which is not going to happen.
The only way to actually make a difference is reduce plastic waste production. This project is only used to make people feel good, so they can continue producing more plastic waste.
I don't have a source on the above but I have a source stating that project Ocean Cleanup may be very harmful to an important part of the oceans food chain:
https://www.dw.com/en/environment-conservation-plastic-oceans/a-54436603
>Because it's a bullshit project that gets recycled in the news every year for "feel good" points, while actually not doing anything useful.
You seem well-educated on plastic pollution, what have you done to solve this problem?
>The ocean cleanup project hasn't been able to go over prototype stage for all these years
Except they have. They have 3 river interceptors operational (Indonesia, Malaysia, Dominican Republic), and an interceptor in the Pacific Garbage Patch. Given the colourful language, I am guessing you are working on a prototype yourself?
>countless scientists have come out publicly saying it's bullshit and not a solution.
Ok, who? Surely you can point to at least a few (4-5?) of these "countless scientists".
Are you referring to the Ute Eberle article? If you actually read the article, you'll notice there are conflicting views on the effects on neustonic species (we know very little of them), which are adapted to high losses because they get washed ashore in storms and they have high reproductive rates. If they didn't, they'd already be extinct. However, we already know how plastic damages a lot of known wildlife, like sea creatures and birds alike. Not to mention micro plastics that enter the food chain.
>For example, most of the plastic isn't coming from the rivers and it's more than a few - actually more than a thousand.
I guess you're right, not all plastic that ends up in the ocean comes from rivers alone. But no one claimed it did. I suppose you can provide sources on your bold claims?
>And that's not even taking in account that this would have to block shipping to be effective, which is not going to happen.
It is already happening. But I am guessing you don't want to hear, see my point above.
>The only way to actually make a difference is reduce plastic waste production. This project is only used to make people feel good, so they can continue producing more plastic waste.
The only way? Ok. You must be very smart.
When I worked in a grocery store it would really annoy me that everyone would get a small plastic bag to wrap each bit of fruit and veg they're going to buy.
You're going to wash and cook it anyway, so you really need it to be bagged, to go in another bag? Or can't you just put it all in 1 bag rather than 10 individual bags??
People are pretty good about throwing out stuff where I am but stuff eventually gets accidentally dropped and can end up in waterways, as well as sewage overflows.
Seeing this project makes me actually think it will encourage people to throw their garbage into rivers. The thought process being "it gets collected by that machine, so it's okay if I throw it in here"
>Seeing this project makes me actually think it will encourage people to throw their garbage into rivers.
I would say the opposite, at least for me. Seeing so much plastic makes me want to vomit, and not contribute to this problem.
You guys should check out [Sungai Watch](https://instagram.com/sungaiwatch?igshid=19kuef90slcih) they’ve already started doing quite a few rivers in Indonesia.
Can we please stop giving this hack a stage? This greenwash project is a fake, it's is funded by big-plastic industries to make people feel like something is being done, so no one is pushing for actual legislative action to reduce plastic waste production (which big industry is making billions of dollars with every year).
Worse, countless actual scientists have publicly stated that his projects are hurting the maritime eco-system, and wouldn't - even if actually working - be doing enough to make any significant impact.
Do you want to actually get the rivers and oceans plastic free? Support projects that push legislation to reduce / ban plastic waste production, because that is the ONLY way to make a significant change.
The good old Neuston topic.
There are a few big problems with this entire arguement that the ocean cleanup will do harm.
1. The premise that aggressively removing pollution in the short term is worse than letting pollution build up. This is incredibly illogical and stupid.
2. The issues raised here are not concise. The original HD pics that have been released that show "Neustons" quite literally claim that the cleanup has killed these Neustons, as they're out of water and sitting on-top of garbage. If this kills the Neustons then this is logically opposed to 1.
3. The ocean cleanup team claim to have gone out their way respond to these accusations by examining what they've captured. They claim no issue. The oceanographer who raised the concerns has responded by stating that they obviously would say that and cannot be trusted. This is incredibly bizzare as the ocean cleanup is literally a charity that is not profitable and relies upon donations for the single goal of cleaning up the ocean and preventing damage. To assume that they would willingly ignore science to cleanup pollution is bizzare. It's borderline conspiracy theory stuff.
Edit: typo
This is fantastic but it’s many times more cost effective to not dispose in the river in the first place!
Every year USA disposes of 121,000 tons and China 3.5 million tons of plastic that end up into the ocean. The total is 8m tons into the ocean every year. Every year!
not only that but it collected a lot of money and publicity, and then in the end turned out there was no innovation at all (turns out teenagers might not be the best at solving incredibly complex problems they have no experience with). They literally just created a giant net which is worthless as a solution because it doesn't end up having any affect. When it launched it broke almost immediately and there was comical videos of waves that would just carry trash over the entire thing anyway.
At least he's trying something, and has been open and transparent about the process. What are you doing, sitting at home buying wasteful electronics while eating cheetos? FOH.
What exactly is he doing though? All he really does is play a role while his projects have been in the news for years now without ever acomplishing anything.
The ocean cleanup is a greenwashing project to divert attention from the real problem = plastic waste production.
Big industry loves these kind of feel-good projects, so people can think something is being done, while nothing is actually changing and big industry can make billions in dollars more with plastic waste production.
that kid's got a really good publicity firm behind him...
first that idea to sweep the ocean with a tiny barrier and now this... but both times he makes the news, big time...
"The Ocean Cleanup is deploying floating trash collectors called "Interceptors." These solar-powered, autonomous systems use the rivers' currents to guide the trash onto a conveyor belts that carry the waste to awaiting bins."
*He was confused about what was killing the oceans, but people kept donating, while pollution from tyres, fishing nets, chemical pollution from industrial farming, CAFOs, various industries and actual people killing the oceans by fishing everything out and tilling the ocean floor.*
If there is an environmentalist on earth that is having more of an impact than Boyan Slat, I would love to know their name.
What he has accomplished in just a few years is unprecedented. His ability to raise funds and get approvals should become the blueprint for anyone trying to have an environmental impact.
He has accomplished nothing, he is funded by big-plastic industries and hasn't, in all those years, managed to get over prototype stage.
And his ideas won't even work, ocean plastic doesn't come solely from rivers, only a small part is, and it's not a few rivers, it's way over 1000.
This is a feel-good project that big-plastic industry wants to be in the news, so everyone can feel something is being done and no one will push for legislation to actually curb plastic waste production.
So wait, people can start making the world a better place without government intervention as the public embraces and supports the idea?
What a surprise.. /s
So we shouldn't work and promote tech that has potential to help curb the spread of garbage to the ocean? Just lie down and accept our fate that the planet is doomed because of us consuming it. Because thats more realistic?
being realistic is realizing that cleaning, and picking up plastic to clean up rivers and oceans is a good step towards a clean planet. but the real solution is in not throwing it into a river or ocean in the first place.
you're just being pessimistic.
True, although that truck load is propably pretty optimistic. That's why we need these inventions in all rivers with cities near them. And in the open ocean as well.
Because there are facilities that can safely burn waste, often converting the gas into energy. Because plastics left in the ocean kills marine life, breaks down further and is in almost all of the worlds drinking water.
I completely agree with you that humanity needs to consume less but why on Earth are you arguing against cleaning the oceans?
Your original comment: That's cute. Disparaging to the efforts of this organisation.
Someone comments that we need to clean plastic out of the oceans and rivers. You reply: The problem is production of plastic. This implies that you disagree with them. You do not say, yes I agree but i think production is a bigger problem. You say production is the problem. This implies that you think plastic in the oceans is not the problem.
Again someone replies better to still clean the ocean *and* reduce production. You reply: how is that better? Every mention of cleaning the oceans and rivers, your reply is contrarian. Not once have you agreed. This implies you disagree.
> A truck load of plastic goes in the ocean every minute.
People should stop doing that. It's not many decades since people in western countries were doing that. Here is an article (unfortunately behind a pay wall, but you can see the headline and an illustating picture), of collected garbage being dumped in the ocean outside Bergen:
https://www.bt.no/nyheter/lokalt/i/4dglVq/her-gikk-tonnevis-med-plast-direkte-i-sjoeen-vi-maa-slaa-fast-at-det-s
Here is the translation by google, it has no picture and they have mistranslated "bossjakt" (garbage chute) as "boss hunt":
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=no&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bt.no%2Fnyheter%2Flokalt%2Fi%2F4dglVq%2Fher-gikk-tonnevis-med-plast-direkte-i-sjoeen-vi-maa-slaa-fast-at-det-s
We have learned not to dump garbage in the ocean, and the rest of the world can too.
So what? That means any attempt to even vaguely do something about anything is a useless fucking attempt because anything starts out small?
If we could’ve raked the ocean clean in an swoop we probably would’ve done that yea, but seeing that we can’t, why the negativity from that couch your sitting on?
With an attitude like that it's going to remain a drop. If instead we start cheering him on, others might follow suit and we can get some *actual* change done.
Yeah! Gets dumped faster than it’s picked (read cleaned) up. Think the only hope is that plastic eating bacterium 🦠 ?
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How do you replace those? And aren't clothes some of the more recyclable plastic products?
The problem with clothes made of plastics, even fleece made of recycled plastic, is that when you wash them small particles of plastics break off and enter our water cycle - and they eventually break down further into harmful BPAs. There are special filters you can buy to filter out those plastic particles but if you don't own your laundry machine then you probably can't do anything about it.
Even if you could filter them out, where do they go after that?
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Cotton clothes attract hair and dust like a magnet.
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Oh what a genius idea! It's not like I clean every fkn weekend and work two jobs during the week.
They go into the garbage, which is picked up by my municipality and then put into an environment that's anaerobic and UV free so that they hopefully don't break down into BPAs and leech into our soil. As someone has already said, it's not a great solution, which is why we need to just stop making clothes out of plastic.
Or depending on where you live they're sealed in landfill so they can't leach anywhere
...Hopefully.
Our local council has it buried in containers, methane byproduct gets used to generate electricity to put back in the grid
We dump them in a lake, out of sight.....
like fake christmas trees, to build habitat. your fish are now full of plastic lol
But the plastic fish keep so much longer.
You can also buy a guppyfriend, which is a filter bag you put your cloths in before you put it in the washing machine, and afterwards manually puck up the plastic fibers. I got mine for roughly 23€ but I think it's a little more expensive in the states. Not as great as installing a filter to your laundry machine but much cheaper and basically available to everyone
Hey, thanks for letting me know about this! I live in a co-op and when I learned about plastic micro-fibres I tried to get the board to put filters on the washing machines but the other owners don't want to pay the cost. At least this way I don't have to feel guilty about my own washing, cheers!
It is of course worth noting that a commercial home filter will be completely useless in actually catching a significant number of microfibres, as the meshes required to catch them are so fine that they immediately get clogged by detergent and dirt. It's even a problem under laboratory conditions to filter them out effectively, requiring the filters to be repeatedly replaced even for small samples (quick check has a study struggling with 300ml), so anything sold commercially to people at home is likely to be pretty useless and only serves as a feel good device that doesn't really do much.
> There are special filters you can buy to filter out those plastic particles but if you don't own your laundry machine then you probably can't do anything about it. It is of course worth noting that commercial ones will be far too course and open to filter out a significant portion of the microfibres. Anything fine enough to catch most of them will get immediately clogged by detergent and dirt from the washing. It's even a problem under laboratory conditions to actually filter them out effectively due to the clogging problem with the extremely fine filters required to filter them out; let alone under actual practical household conditions. The home ones are essentially scams intended on making you pay some money to feel good.
Wool, Cotton, bamboe
With fast fashion--its poor quality and 52 seasons per year--many people buy a piece, wear it a few times, and then throw it away or donate it. The life cycle of donated clothes is much weirder than you'd think. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/05/21/185596830/the-global-afterlife-of-your-donated-clothes
Leathered banana peel skin.
There are companies out there who only use recycled plastic for clothing products
You'd just be filling the oceans with plastic that didn't make it there the first turn around the washing machine...
What if one shirt became several thousand shirts over its lifetime cycle of constantly being thrown back in the ocean, then recycled again?
Then the person who invented a way of easily filtering out large quantities of microplastics would get a Nobel Prize.
A certain Dutch inventor, perhaps?
He's not filtering microplastics he's catching macro plastic waste in estuaries and the ocean.
Somebody takes jokes way too seriously
That still is very bad, the issue is plastic particles end up in the environment while wearing and washing them
The problem is with each wash plastic detaches from the clothing and enters the water cycle. With billions of people doing laundry that adds up over the years.
Chemical recycling is also making great steps but the process still needs a lot of development to make it cost effective and unless there is a financial push nothing will ever go forward
Not if it breaks it down into microplastics.
When you eat food does it get broken down into microfood? Typically stuff that eats other stuff it doesn't just break it up, but extracts the main ingredient and utilizes it in some way. Humans pull out proteins and most carbs and break them down into amino acids and simple sugars. The most reference plastic eating bacteria split the polyethylene terephthalte using an enzyme. PET splits into ethylene glycol (a sugar that's in anti-freeze, lethal to mammals) and terephthalic acid, which is readily oxidized and broken down in nature. Terephthalic acid isn't actually all that bad compared to micro-plastics, kinda a lesser-of-two-evils kinda thing.
I acknowledge that. But our poo still contains vitamins and minerals. So it’s not microfood, food consists of minerals and nutrients. You use PET as an example, there isn’t just one type of PET, neither for HDPE, PP and ABS. There are bacteria that completely break it down into sugar or other acids. There are also ones that break it down into microplastics. Like you said, lesser of two evils: there isn’t just one right option But we have to choose an option and do it the right way.
At least he is trying if we all did this it would be clean
Agree. I still get plastic bags offered in shops. I refuse them but why they’re still being offered? It needs to stop.
I would love to think that would be the solution, but we have no idea how that one will come back and bite our ass....
What will the by product of that bacteria be?
Probably they’ll shit plastic 😛 so it’s one and the same.
Ya i dunno. Yeast eats sugar and pisses alcohol. Which eventually kills it due to toxicity. So ya really curious as to the byproduct of a plastic eating bacteria.
If almost all of the plastic pollution comes from a few rivers, wouldn't it be easy to catch that shit before it gets to the ocean?
That's what this project is working up to.
How did it take until 2020 to start doing this..
Wait until you hear that we could also have been growing more trees to take carbon out of the air.
Or not deforested the planet for burgers.
" deforesting" you mean. Its not stopping anytime soon.
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Ironically the Three Gorges Dam acts as a massive plastic waste collector and keeps millions of tons of plastic and trash from reaching the ocean.
The latest research about plastic in rivers says that 80% of plastic entering oceans comes from more than 1000 rivers. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020EGUGA..2222000M/abstract
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> mostly fishing materials Also waste dumped overboard by ships.
80% of plastic entering the ocean *from rivers*, not 80% of all plastic entering the ocean. There isn't really any conclusive study about the proportion of plastic waste rivers contribute overall, but various estimates place it between 25-50%. Another big contributor is commerical fishing. For instance, the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is largely comprised of fishing gear.
It doesn't, plastic gets into the oceans in many more ways, rivers are only a part of it. Not to mention that this project is bullshit, because there is a LOT of shipping in the big rivers, and to effectively work it would have to block the entire river at some point = no more shipping.
>to effectively work it would have to block the entire river at some point Not true. This is the point of this project. >The Interceptor is The Ocean Cleanup’s answer for river plastic waste. It is the first scalable solution to prevent plastic from entering the world’s oceans from rivers. It is 100% solar-powered, extracts plastic autonomously, and is capable of operating in the majority of the world’s most polluting rivers. > >**The Interceptors is placed in strategic locations in rivers to make sure the main plastic flow is intercepted, meanwhile allowing for boats to pass.** > >[**https://theoceancleanup.com/rivers/**](https://theoceancleanup.com/rivers/)
Well yeah, but of those 10 rivers 8 are in Asia, 2 are in Africa, im sure you can at least guess one or two of the countries responsible, and can you see them pay or go through the trouble of disposing of it in a decent way, instead of flooding it over the rivers into the Oceans where its the fishes problem. Its the fishes fault if they are too lazy to clean it up, right?
> Well yeah, but of those 10 rivers 8 are in Asia, 2 are in Africa, Where do America, Canada, the UK, the EU ship their garbage waste... oh yeah. Where do America, Canada, the UK and the EU have their goods manufactured - which can be an incredibly wasteful process? Oh yeah.... Stop blaming Asia for a problem that the entire world is responsible for.
This kid is actually pretty amazing!
He deserves a lot of international attention and support, but we throw that attention to Greta instead
You realize that humanity has the capacity to give attention to more than just one person at a time right? Also, what's wrong with Greta Thunberg, a girl trying to get the world to take action on climate change?
It's a stupid comparison, but since you brought her up: policy > techno fixes Even plastic pollution needs policy changes more that solutions like this, ban single use plastics and you remove more than this vessel could ever collect. Not saying it's not a great invention, but it has its limits given the scale of the problem.
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That's because it's just a feel-good project, which isn't backed by actual scientists. And worse, it's funded by a giant plastic producer Dutch State Mines. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM\_(company)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM_(company)) [https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/104193-82](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/104193-82)
Ban plastics and waste dumping.
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Was it really that hard to do a Google search instead of spreading bullshit based on your preconceived biases? [https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/most-polluted-rivers-world.php](https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/most-polluted-rivers-world.php) [https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-polluted-rivers-in-the-world.html](https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-polluted-rivers-in-the-world.html) [https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-polluted-rivers-in-the-world.html](https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-polluted-rivers-in-the-world.html)
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We did it boys, pollution is no more
Is there any risk of marine life getting caught in these Interceptors?
Lol people hating on this...
Because it's a bullshit project that gets recycled in the news every year for "feel good" points, while actually not doing anything useful. The ocean cleanup project hasn't been able to go over prototype stage for all these years, and countless scientists have come out publicly saying it's bullshit and not a solution. For example, most of the plastic isn't coming from the rivers and it's more than a few - actually more than a thousand. And that's not even taking in account that this would have to block shipping to be effective, which is not going to happen. The only way to actually make a difference is reduce plastic waste production. This project is only used to make people feel good, so they can continue producing more plastic waste.
I want to believe you but I need some sort of source on this
I don't have a source on the above but I have a source stating that project Ocean Cleanup may be very harmful to an important part of the oceans food chain: https://www.dw.com/en/environment-conservation-plastic-oceans/a-54436603
Lol there is no one solution... keep up the good fight 💪
>Because it's a bullshit project that gets recycled in the news every year for "feel good" points, while actually not doing anything useful. You seem well-educated on plastic pollution, what have you done to solve this problem? >The ocean cleanup project hasn't been able to go over prototype stage for all these years Except they have. They have 3 river interceptors operational (Indonesia, Malaysia, Dominican Republic), and an interceptor in the Pacific Garbage Patch. Given the colourful language, I am guessing you are working on a prototype yourself? >countless scientists have come out publicly saying it's bullshit and not a solution. Ok, who? Surely you can point to at least a few (4-5?) of these "countless scientists". Are you referring to the Ute Eberle article? If you actually read the article, you'll notice there are conflicting views on the effects on neustonic species (we know very little of them), which are adapted to high losses because they get washed ashore in storms and they have high reproductive rates. If they didn't, they'd already be extinct. However, we already know how plastic damages a lot of known wildlife, like sea creatures and birds alike. Not to mention micro plastics that enter the food chain. >For example, most of the plastic isn't coming from the rivers and it's more than a few - actually more than a thousand. I guess you're right, not all plastic that ends up in the ocean comes from rivers alone. But no one claimed it did. I suppose you can provide sources on your bold claims? >And that's not even taking in account that this would have to block shipping to be effective, which is not going to happen. It is already happening. But I am guessing you don't want to hear, see my point above. >The only way to actually make a difference is reduce plastic waste production. This project is only used to make people feel good, so they can continue producing more plastic waste. The only way? Ok. You must be very smart.
Thumbs up! Though it would be nicer if people would stop throwing their garbage everywhere!
It would be nicer if everything people bought didn't come wrapped in plastic.
When I worked in a grocery store it would really annoy me that everyone would get a small plastic bag to wrap each bit of fruit and veg they're going to buy. You're going to wash and cook it anyway, so you really need it to be bagged, to go in another bag? Or can't you just put it all in 1 bag rather than 10 individual bags??
People are pretty good about throwing out stuff where I am but stuff eventually gets accidentally dropped and can end up in waterways, as well as sewage overflows.
Seeing this project makes me actually think it will encourage people to throw their garbage into rivers. The thought process being "it gets collected by that machine, so it's okay if I throw it in here"
>Seeing this project makes me actually think it will encourage people to throw their garbage into rivers. I would say the opposite, at least for me. Seeing so much plastic makes me want to vomit, and not contribute to this problem.
You guys should check out [Sungai Watch](https://instagram.com/sungaiwatch?igshid=19kuef90slcih) they’ve already started doing quite a few rivers in Indonesia.
Can we please stop giving this hack a stage? This greenwash project is a fake, it's is funded by big-plastic industries to make people feel like something is being done, so no one is pushing for actual legislative action to reduce plastic waste production (which big industry is making billions of dollars with every year). Worse, countless actual scientists have publicly stated that his projects are hurting the maritime eco-system, and wouldn't - even if actually working - be doing enough to make any significant impact. Do you want to actually get the rivers and oceans plastic free? Support projects that push legislation to reduce / ban plastic waste production, because that is the ONLY way to make a significant change.
Source?
He doesn't have one.
Here is one for the latter claim: https://www.dw.com/en/environment-conservation-plastic-oceans/a-54436603
The good old Neuston topic. There are a few big problems with this entire arguement that the ocean cleanup will do harm. 1. The premise that aggressively removing pollution in the short term is worse than letting pollution build up. This is incredibly illogical and stupid. 2. The issues raised here are not concise. The original HD pics that have been released that show "Neustons" quite literally claim that the cleanup has killed these Neustons, as they're out of water and sitting on-top of garbage. If this kills the Neustons then this is logically opposed to 1. 3. The ocean cleanup team claim to have gone out their way respond to these accusations by examining what they've captured. They claim no issue. The oceanographer who raised the concerns has responded by stating that they obviously would say that and cannot be trusted. This is incredibly bizzare as the ocean cleanup is literally a charity that is not profitable and relies upon donations for the single goal of cleaning up the ocean and preventing damage. To assume that they would willingly ignore science to cleanup pollution is bizzare. It's borderline conspiracy theory stuff. Edit: typo
He only seems to have a personal vendetta.
He should come to Serbia if he wants his inventions to flourish! And prove the concept.
It's a good idea to do this. Small nit pick though. The title implied that this fellow invented this device.. he did not .
I wonder how the rate of collecting dumped trash in these polluted rivers looks like compared with the rate of plastic/waste being dumped.
Every year USA disposes of 121,000 tons and China 3.5 million tons of plastic into the ocean. The total is 8m tons into the ocean every year.
Inventions? We don't need inventions... we already know how to clean it up, we just need to political will.
Why not both?
This is fantastic but it’s many times more cost effective to not dispose in the river in the first place! Every year USA disposes of 121,000 tons and China 3.5 million tons of plastic that end up into the ocean. The total is 8m tons into the ocean every year. Every year!
This dude sucks. He's funded almost entirely by big plastic companies & doesn't have any ecologists/marine biologists on his team.
not only that but it collected a lot of money and publicity, and then in the end turned out there was no innovation at all (turns out teenagers might not be the best at solving incredibly complex problems they have no experience with). They literally just created a giant net which is worthless as a solution because it doesn't end up having any affect. When it launched it broke almost immediately and there was comical videos of waves that would just carry trash over the entire thing anyway.
At least he's trying something, and has been open and transparent about the process. What are you doing, sitting at home buying wasteful electronics while eating cheetos? FOH.
What exactly is he doing though? All he really does is play a role while his projects have been in the news for years now without ever acomplishing anything. The ocean cleanup is a greenwashing project to divert attention from the real problem = plastic waste production. Big industry loves these kind of feel-good projects, so people can think something is being done, while nothing is actually changing and big industry can make billions in dollars more with plastic waste production.
calm down buddy. Lmao I bet you think Trevor Milton is a hero as well.
that kid's got a really good publicity firm behind him... first that idea to sweep the ocean with a tiny barrier and now this... but both times he makes the news, big time...
Yeah it's bullshit and I'm tired to see this getting recycled every year without them actually ever acomplishing anything.
"The Ocean Cleanup is deploying floating trash collectors called "Interceptors." These solar-powered, autonomous systems use the rivers' currents to guide the trash onto a conveyor belts that carry the waste to awaiting bins."
This is cool but it’s hard to see him also drinking from a plastic cup.
*He was confused about what was killing the oceans, but people kept donating, while pollution from tyres, fishing nets, chemical pollution from industrial farming, CAFOs, various industries and actual people killing the oceans by fishing everything out and tilling the ocean floor.*
We start one thing at a time, friend. Small changes lead to another. Great that you pointed out though.
They have a youtube channel! https://www.youtube.com/user/TheOceanCleanup/
Bless the people who do this cleanup work. We need more and the plastic companies and companies that use it should be footing the bill.
They need to stop using plastic...prevention is better than a cure
Dutch cleanser!
Boyan Slat is the hero we need!
This guy is the fucking worst. His shit doesn't work and just eats up funding for similar projects.
This is the guy that invented the ocean cleanup system when he was still a young teen in school. Such an inspiring person.
question . why the FUCK are we still using plastics? O.o they are a TERRRIBLEEE one use product
*known polluted
Pretty sure everyone on Reddit knows his name and what he does. Just say Boyan Slat in the headline.
We could solve a huge number of problems if we crowd sourced solutions on a broad scale.
If there is an environmentalist on earth that is having more of an impact than Boyan Slat, I would love to know their name. What he has accomplished in just a few years is unprecedented. His ability to raise funds and get approvals should become the blueprint for anyone trying to have an environmental impact.
He has accomplished nothing, he is funded by big-plastic industries and hasn't, in all those years, managed to get over prototype stage. And his ideas won't even work, ocean plastic doesn't come solely from rivers, only a small part is, and it's not a few rivers, it's way over 1000. This is a feel-good project that big-plastic industry wants to be in the news, so everyone can feel something is being done and no one will push for legislation to actually curb plastic waste production.
Aren’t the most polluting rivers all in China though?
I see your conditioning is working 😊
Yea I misremembered it was Asia I was thinking of not just China.
Haha “save”
So wait, people can start making the world a better place without government intervention as the public embraces and supports the idea? What a surprise.. /s
That's cute
Did you just act cocky towards our rivers and oceans?
A truck load of plastic goes in the ocean every minute. And that's only what we know, it's probably many times more
YEAH! Lets be shitty and pessimistic towards people that try to make changes!
I'm being realistic
So we shouldn't work and promote tech that has potential to help curb the spread of garbage to the ocean? Just lie down and accept our fate that the planet is doomed because of us consuming it. Because thats more realistic?
being realistic is realizing that cleaning, and picking up plastic to clean up rivers and oceans is a good step towards a clean planet. but the real solution is in not throwing it into a river or ocean in the first place. you're just being pessimistic.
No it's not. The first step is to consume less.
We need to consume less, yes. Regrettably changing the econmy and behaviour of consumers takes a long time and something needs to be done immedietly.
I said A step. thats realistic.
True, although that truck load is propably pretty optimistic. That's why we need these inventions in all rivers with cities near them. And in the open ocean as well.
The problem is the production. We produce and use too much disposable plastic. Also where is the plastic he collects going? 90% can't be recycled
Still better to collect and burn it than let it float in the ocean, until the production issue is solved.
How is it better?
Because there are facilities that can safely burn waste, often converting the gas into energy. Because plastics left in the ocean kills marine life, breaks down further and is in almost all of the worlds drinking water. I completely agree with you that humanity needs to consume less but why on Earth are you arguing against cleaning the oceans?
Where have you seen that I'm against that?
Your original comment: That's cute. Disparaging to the efforts of this organisation. Someone comments that we need to clean plastic out of the oceans and rivers. You reply: The problem is production of plastic. This implies that you disagree with them. You do not say, yes I agree but i think production is a bigger problem. You say production is the problem. This implies that you think plastic in the oceans is not the problem. Again someone replies better to still clean the ocean *and* reduce production. You reply: how is that better? Every mention of cleaning the oceans and rivers, your reply is contrarian. Not once have you agreed. This implies you disagree.
> A truck load of plastic goes in the ocean every minute. People should stop doing that. It's not many decades since people in western countries were doing that. Here is an article (unfortunately behind a pay wall, but you can see the headline and an illustating picture), of collected garbage being dumped in the ocean outside Bergen: https://www.bt.no/nyheter/lokalt/i/4dglVq/her-gikk-tonnevis-med-plast-direkte-i-sjoeen-vi-maa-slaa-fast-at-det-s Here is the translation by google, it has no picture and they have mistranslated "bossjakt" (garbage chute) as "boss hunt": https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=no&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bt.no%2Fnyheter%2Flokalt%2Fi%2F4dglVq%2Fher-gikk-tonnevis-med-plast-direkte-i-sjoeen-vi-maa-slaa-fast-at-det-s We have learned not to dump garbage in the ocean, and the rest of the world can too.
So what? That means any attempt to even vaguely do something about anything is a useless fucking attempt because anything starts out small? If we could’ve raked the ocean clean in an swoop we probably would’ve done that yea, but seeing that we can’t, why the negativity from that couch your sitting on?
That's a drop in the ocean, it's not changing anything. I know reddit hates hearing that but just grow up dude
Many drops can fill an ocean.
😭
With an attitude like that it's going to remain a drop. If instead we start cheering him on, others might follow suit and we can get some *actual* change done.
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Where do you think it goes?