Earth Day 2018: Ocean sweeper set to corral plastic debris

As another Earth Day rolls around, it’s easy to become discouraged about huge problems, with no seeming solutions.

The ocean’s floating plastic problem is huge but, as it happens, there are some actual solutions on the horizon.

One solution comes from Dutch boy genius Boyan Slat who plans to test his ambitious ocean cleanup plan this summer.

The scale of the problem is enormous. An estimated 5 trillion pieces of floating plastic garbage inhabit the oceans, breaking into microscopic pieces that kill birds and disrupt sea animal life. Another 8 trillion metric tons of plastic enter the ocean each year.

According to UNESCO, one uninhabited island between Chile and New Zealand is now a garbage patch, with 38 million pieces of plastic coating its formerly white sand beaches.

The worst areas of plastic pollution are in the ocean gyres, areas where ocean currents meet and rotate endlessly, now clogged with plastic debris. There are five such ocean areas, each the size of Texas, in the global oceans. Slat’s idea, now funded by millions in contributions, is to deploy 1.24 mile-long solid pipes which will float on the ocean in a U shape. The pipes will float freely with an array of third-mile deep anchors that provide drag.

Floating plastic and particles will gather in the U-shaped area. Then a cleanup ship will scoop up the debris and take it to land for recycling.

After several tests and changes to the idea, TheOceanCleanUp.com is ready to deploy the first sweeper this year.

Critics of the plan are legion and they make some serious points. For one thing, critics say the plan seriously underestimates how wild the oceans are. Colossal waves may simply snap the pipes. Sea life will colonize the pipes and ultimately sink them. And, the worst plastic is said to be below the surface, not on it, in the form of microplastic clouds inhabiting the seawater.

Finally, critics say that laws and public education are cheaper and more to the point. Disposable plastic should not be used and the earth’s 7 billion inhabitants should not throw plastic into the sea.