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The Ocean Cleanup

theoceancleanup.com

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Re: The Ocean Cleanup

#31

Post by _broody »

Yardlink wrote: post #19
leorocky wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lengthy, point by point response to criticism on this page: http://www.theoceancleanup.com/blog/show/item/responding-to-... I am not qualified to judge the merits of the criticism or the response, I'm just kind of happy someone is at least trying to do something about trash in the ocean.

I didn't see mentioned. Why do it? It might save some species? That needs to be something they're sure of and sure they can't be saved more cheaply other ways.

We already know of the cost of plastic pollution, just do a freaking Google search. From there it's easy to weigh down the payoff vs. cost.

(If you're too lazy to do, yes, reducing plastic pollution will save a good deal of wildlife, and improve human health too, as probably there will be less toxic bisphenol and polystyrene in that tuna can you pick from the supermarket aisle from plastic pollutants which easily land back in our food chain).

And why should they not do this based on the mere presumption that there could be a cheaper way? Everyone else is free to come up with a better idea.

Your post is incredibly intellectually disingenuous just for the sake of being critical.

Re: The Ocean Cleanup

#34

Post by pond_lilly »

what about marine life trapped in the middle of that? For whales and dolphins it will look like drive fishery and could lead to some serious issues and even death from stress.

Re: The Ocean Cleanup

#36

Post by namenotrequired »

jpalomaki wrote: post #30

Good idea. Is this a scam? Does not look like that. Can this be harmful? Probably not at least in this scale. Ok, here's my money. Test this and let me know if it worked. In general it is good to be sceptical, but sometimes it can also prevent good things from happening. I think it is better to just throw them some money (or ignore this) than spend time trying to find reasons why this would not work. It's not like we…

As one of over 100 volunteers for this project, I can say with confidence it's not a scam, but a passionate team trying a crazy but by now well-researched idea.

Totally agreed - it's not a full solution, but definitely one worth trying.

Re: The Ocean Cleanup

#37

Post by namenotrequired »

dcarmo wrote: post #32

Is there anyway to buy their The Feasibility Study book? I'd love to help them and get one copy.

There's only two physical copies of it right now, while they're extending the peer review. The only way (as far as I can see) to get a physical copy is to pledge at least $750 (see the crowdfunding page).

Re: The Ocean Cleanup

#38

Post by namenotrequired »

hershel wrote: post #14

Great project. I do wonder , why are 100 people involved ? is it very complicated ? or just the fact they volunteer so they can't give their 100% attention to this?

The short answer is, both. There's a smaller core team that works more or less full time on this, and a lot of other part time volunteers. Personally, I volunteered temporarily on one of their research trips only (I'm unsure if I'm counted in the "over 100 volunteers" figure, though).

Edit: I forgot to respond to the second part. It is also very complicated - it has already required a lot of research that hasn't been done before, and a lot of angles need to be considered, not just in various fields of physics and chemistry but also biology, economics and law to mention a few.

Re: The Ocean Cleanup

#39

Post by wavesounds »

As someone who has routinely ridden a bike along the rivers of Los Angeles I can tell you there is nothing being done to stop the flow of trash from streets, through storm drains, to rivers straight into the ocean. Targeting rivers like these in major population areas seems like the cheapest, easiest, most effective first step to stopping this problem.

Re: The Ocean Cleanup

#40

Post by namenotrequired »

wbhart wrote: post #10

I'm skeptical. Most of the plastics in his/her photos are visible. In the actual gyres, most plastics are microplastics, i.e. particles from cosmetics and clothes washing that have gone down the drain. There's a pinkie fingernail sized piece every couple of cubic metres or so. Definitely not visible. They also harbour life. How to remove the life and give it somewhere to live without upsetting the ecosystem?

>Most of the plastics in his/her photos are visible.

It's hard to show invisible things in photos :) Or artist's impressions for that matter.

I volunteered on one of their research trips on a gyre and can tell you that, while you're right that most plastic is invisible from more than a few meters away, there's still a lot of visible plastic as well.

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