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It has been a while since we checked in with Boyan Slat, the young Dutch engineer who, at the tender age of 18, founded Ocean Cleanup for the purpose of removing the plastic floating in the oceans of the world — all of it! That was a pretty bold ambition. When I was 18, my primary interest was buying a well used Jaguar XK-120 for $500.
Slat is in his early thirties today and still pursuing his dream. With the benefit of hindsight, he has adjusted his plan considerably. Originally his target was the Giant Pacific Garbage Patch — a collection of floating plastic and other manmade debris large enough to be seen from the International Space Station.
That proved to be a Hurculean task. A recent study estimated there are 1.8 trillion pieces of floating plastic in the Pacific Gyre that collectively weigh more than 80,000 tons. Ultimately, it proved impossible to clean up the Pacific garbage patch, and so Slat and his team at Ocean Cleanup had to adjust their vision.
From The River To The Sea
