Watch It Wednesday #12

This week we look at a great example of a company tackling a socio-environmental issue. The Ocean Cleanup (founded in 2013 by 18 year old Boyan Slat) is an amazing company that has made massive strides using scientific research & engineering to develop platforms to deal with plastic pollution. The Ocean Cleanup collects, recycles, and reuses marine/riverine plastics, along with researching where the trash originates from and how to stem the immense flow of plastics entering the ocean. The video above explains the science behind discovering that 1% of the Earth’s rivers transport 80% of the plastics entering the ocean every year, while the one below highlights the Ocean Cleanup’s operations in 2020 (we recommend turning down your volume, the soundtrack is a bit much).

Finally, a look at a different company and their designs for future vessels to help rid our oceans of plastic pollution.

It is extremely exciting to see so much progress, innovation, and attention to tackling this issue in less than a decade! The creation of these solutions and the driven individuals behind implementing them should inspire us to take climate, sustainability, and environmental issues head on across our spheres of influence.