A giant floating trash collector will try to scoop up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

“‘I applaud the efforts to remove plastics – clearly any piece of debris cleared from the ocean is helpful,’ said Rolf Halden, a professor of environmental health engineering at Arizona State University.

“But he added a caveat, namely that there’s not much point to cleaning up the mess unless we also stop the tons of plastic entering the oceans each day. ‘If you allow the doors to be open during a sand storm while you’re vacuuming, you won’t get very far,’ Halden said. . . . There’s a lot to be stopped. As much as 9.5 million tons of trash is deposited into the ocean each year, according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. . . .

“The goal is to deploy 60 such systems by 2020, which the group believes will clean up 50 percent of the garbage in the garbage patch in five years time.

“While the scientists who study ocean plastic pollution aren’t convinced this will fix the problem, it might help bring the problem more into the public eye. In Rolskly’s opinion, there’s just one good thing about plastic pollution – it’s one of the few forms of pollution you can see with the naked eye, which may in the end be what helps end it. “

FULL STORY published August 7, 2018 via USA Today