Kid develops means of removing plastic from oceans...

[itchybro]

Looks pretty cool.

19-Year-Old Develops Ocean Cleanup Array That Could Remove 7,250,000 Tons Of Plastic From the World's Oceans - StumbleUpon

[atoll]

interesting idea,but the first cargo ship that collides with the anchored 1000mile long floating boom is going to turn the thing into "expensive garbage",plus a lot of the plastic rubbish floating arond is about 2m below the surface

[itchybro]

Originally Posted by atoll

interesting idea,but the first cargo ship that collides with the anchored 1000mile long floating boom is going to turn the thing into "expensive garbage",plus a lot of the plastic rubbish floating arond is about 2m below the surface

Considered that but, at least somebody's THINKING about it.

[zeehag]

smart kid. over time the thing will prolly down size a tad, perhaps, to make it functional?

[2manyboats]

While not a bunny/tree/save the world hugger per se, I have seen plenty sad sights of gulls starving with 6 pack plastics wrapped around their heads, pelicans wrapped inextricably in fishing line and diving birds drowned in plastic grocery bags. Most problems are best stopped at their source. Several communities I know of have banned the use of plastic grocery bags. Many state parks and sporting good stores have receptacles for recycling used monofilament. We need to educate the ignorant as to the destructive nature of their negligence. That notwithstanding, the rest of us get to suffer more regulations to keep up with the lowest common denominators among us...

[David M]

Originally Posted by 2manyboats

While not a bunny/tree/save the world hugger per se, I have seen plenty sad sights of gulls starving with 6 pack plastics wrapped around their heads, pelicans wrapped inextricably in fishing line and diving birds drowned in plastic grocery bags. Most problems are best stopped at their source. Several communities I know of have banned the use of plastic grocery bags. Many state parks and sporting good stores have receptacles for recycling used monofilament. We need to educate the ignorant as to the destructive nature of their negligence. That notwithstanding, the rest of us get to suffer more regulations to keep up with the lowest common denominators among us...

Agreed, being proactive to the problem is far better and less expensive than being reactive. Not that a boom is a bad idea, it's just a really expensive idea. No mention is made on how it might affect marine mammal and fish populations.

[SailFastTri]

One day on the way out to my mooring I saw a gull that was snagged on a fishing lure on a pole that some yahoo had left stuck in a pole holder in his cockpit combing. The poor bird was hooked and flapping. Somehow the treble hook got hooked through the nostril holes in the beak. I pulled up in my dinghy and (as gently as possible under the circumstance) was able to unhook the bird without any signs of bleeding or further damage. He dropped into the water and swam around looking a little dazed but probably no lasting damage. I cut off the lure, and kept it for safe keeping.

[goboatingnow]

Its far from anything but a twinkle in the eye concept

"This is an incorrect statement; we are currently only at about 1/4th of completing our feasibility study. Only after finishing that study, we believe such statements should be made. Although the preliminary results look promising, and our team of about 50 engineers, modellers, external experts and students is making good progress, we had and have no intention of presenting a concept as a feasible solution while still being in investigative phase."

Making it survive storms might be teh biggest challenge