Here’s how a massive PIPE can clean the OCEAN

There is an enormous pipe in the ocean… and it’s not trash – in fact, its duty is to remove debris in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The Ocean Cleanup foundation just launched the first ocean cleanup system to combat the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” The Giant Pacific Garbage Patch is a pile of trash that floats between California and Hawaii and is double the size of Texas.

 

Here’s how it’s done… the pipe is U-shaped and carries a 3-meter deep net underneath to catch plastic beneath the surface. Every few months, a boat (basically an ocean garbage truck) will come by, collect all of the crap that the net traps, and bring it to shore. Then, we have plastic that can be recycled (like it should have been in the first place!).

 

But you still need to recycle… because this net isn’t going to catch everything. And actually, some question if the pipe will do much good at all. Apart from the fact it could break down (and add to the “garbage patch”), it may not be enough to make much difference.  But hey, at least someone is trying, right?

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