Update: Remember the Young Man With a Plan to Rid Oceans of Plastic?

His massive plan is scheduled to launch this summer

Do you remember the teenager who six years ago invented a machine that he said could get rid of the plastic that was gathering in the ocean? Well, just in time for Earth Day, the young Dutch genius announced that he is almost ready to launch his ground-breaking initiative designed to purge the seas of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

This patch is a massive island of trash drifting halfway between California and Hawaii. Over a trillion pieces of debris have collected there because of the swirling vortex of current—a floating mass roughly twice the size of Texas. After discovering the patch in the 90s, scientists said it would take thousands of years to clean it up—but Boylan Slat said in his TEDx talk that he could do it in less than ten, if he could get his special machinery built.

Though his claim caused many skeptics to raise their eyebrows, Slat dropped out of college so he could bring his plans to life. In addition to crowdfunding $2.2 million for his idea, he […]

Full article: Remember the Young Man With a Plan to Rid Oceans of Plastic? His Massive Project to Launch This Summer

More about plastic and water:

• How a Girl Scout inspired a health care giant to ditch plastic straws
• Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles
• Plastic debris found in tap water, beer, and sea salt
• 10,000 Plastic Bottles and a Mermaid

Water Warriors and Other People Stories

• FEATURE: Women in water science make a splash
• Sizing-Up Progress on Nature-Based Infrastructure
• Delta College’s Aqua Ducks are big winners at H2O Hackathon
• Meet the Las Vegas teens facing Western drought head on
• No birdsong, no water in the creek, no beating wings: how a haven for nature fell silent
• Kindergarteners release trout into Feather River

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