What the creators of the giant plastic-cleaning system headed to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch say to critics who doubt them
On Saturday, September 8, the Ocean Cleanup launched the first of the arrays they hope to use to clear plastic pollution from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
There's a stunning amount of plastic in the oceans, with much of it concentrated in one of five regions, called gyres, like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch .
Dutch innovator Boyan Slat started the Ocean Cleanup to design ways to clean these regions.
But while many find Slat's efforts to clean up plastic inspiring, experts have also raised serious questions about the project.
"There will always be people saying things can't be done," said Slat.
For the first time ever, the massive 2,000-foot-long array that Dutch 24-year-old Boyan Slat created to clean plastic out of the world's oceans is being put to the test .
Five years ago, Slat founded his organization, the Ocean Cleanup. The group has spent its time designing a system to pull floating plastic out of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch , the largest of five ocean regions known as gyres where plastic...
The last Posts from Business Insider
- Stocks slide after Trump threatens more tariffs and bank earnings disappoint
- How to cancel your Spotify Premium account on an iPhone in 2 ways (though you can't do it through the Spotify app)
- These Audio-Technica headphones are $99 during Prime Day and have over 4,200 5-star Amazon reviews
- After just eight months, the head of Planned Parenthood is out
- The difference between unsecured and secured loans, and which option is right for you
- 8 tourist sites that had to close due to overcrowding
- Facebook said its Libra cryptocurrency will be regulated by Swiss authorities - but that was news to those Swiss authorities
- This startup is giving away all its database software for free as open source, and it says it's not afraid of Oracle or Amazon
- Lyft's Citi Bikes are expanding to the Bronx and other New York City areas after being criticized for only serving rich neighborhoods
- If Earth spun sideways, extreme winters and summers would doom life as we know it
- Legendary hard-shell tacos are better than Taco Bell
- Google is trying to convince Congress that there's competition in the search industry, but recent statistics show it owns 92% of the market
- The 16 best smartphone deals of Amazon Prime Day 2019 - from the Google Pixel to the Samsung Galaxy S10
- Using apps to treat diseases could be the future of healthcare. The first chief digital officer at pharma giant Sanofi told us his strategy for navigating the promises and pitfalls
- Seltzer is officially 'the drink of the summer.' Anyone who's surprised hasn't been paying attention to what millennials like
- An 82-year-old Democrat asked to be part of 'The Squad' that Trump is railing against - and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez welcomed him
- 'Supergirl' star Melissa Benoist teased her character wearing pants, and fans are celebrating the suit upgrade
- 15 ways you can use your phone to improve your productivity
- Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier charged with sex trafficking, reportedly bragged he was the one who introduced Donald and Melania Trump
- Brooks Koepka spurned Tiger Woods' offer for a practice round in order to prevent Tiger from picking his caddie's brain
Huggies features dads on diaper box for first time
Seven designs featured in new premium diaper line Read more ...
Judge orders R. Kelly held in jail, prosecutors call him 'extreme danger to...
A judge ruled Tuesday that R&B singer R. Kelly be held without bond on federal charges that he and his entourage recruited girls and women to engage in illegal sexual activity... Read more ...
AG Barr made decision to not bring charges against Eric Garner cop: official
The decision to not prosecute NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in Eric Garner's death was ultimately made by Attorney General William Barr himself - because of “insufficient... Read more ...
No federal charges for NYPD officer accused of fatally choking Eric Garner
Garner's words “I can't breathe” became a rallying cry for police reform activists, coming amid a stretch of other deaths of black men at the hands of white officers. Read more ...
'Chance the Snapper,' Chicago's alligator-on-the-loose, is finally caught
Chance the Snapper, as he came to be known, had been on the loose in the park for almost a week - forcing a partial shutdown of the site. Read more ...
California man charged after police found more than 1,000 guns in his home
The man pleaded not guilty during a Monday morning arraignment. Read more ...
Netflix has cut graphic suicide scene from first season of '13 Reasons Why'
The scene - and some other aspects of the series - drew criticism from mental health experts who have said it might pose a risk for young people struggling with mental health... Read more ...
The Ring Alarm system for the home is on sale now
Amazon Prime Day 2019 is nearing its end, but good deals remain. Case in point is the five-piece Ring Alarm Kit that's available at huge savings for a limited time. Regularly... Read more ...
Kellyanne Conway asked a reporter 'what's your ethnicity' in response to a...
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Tuesday asked a reporter what his "ethnicity" is when questioned about President Donald Trump's recent racist tweets. The reporter... Read more ...
DOJ Won't Charge New York City Police Officer In Eric Garner's Death
Daniel Pantaleo will not face federal civil rights charges in a death that prompted a national outcry. Read more ...