By Fredrica Syren:
I have written many articles here about why plastic is so bad for our environment and how millions of tons of plastic waste is literally floating around in the Pacific Ocean, which has become the the world’s largest plastic dump. Known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it’s responsible for killing a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year. It also spreads harmful algae and man-made pollutants into the food chain.
It’s estimated that 90% of all trash polluting the ocean is plastic. So far, no one has been able to solve the problem and get the 
ocean cleaned up.
However, a 19-year-old Dutch engineering student, Boyan Slat, has invented a device that can clean up almost half of the great Pacific’s garbage patch in just 10 years.This manta-like device uses arms that will skim the sea’s surface. It will draw in the gunk for filtering, using the currents to help draw garbage through the device.
This young environmentalist and entrepreneur, who is the founder and president ofThe Ocean Cleanup, presented his revolutionary ideas at a TEDx Talk in the Netherlands. Slat became aware of the problem while diving in Greece and was frustrated because he came across more plastic than fish.
Slat is a huge advocate for ending disposable plastic and managing waste responsibly. If his innovation works, it could make a big difference in the ocean’s shorter-term cleanliness.
Here is a video of Slate explaining his vision. You can also visit his website to learn how you can help.
