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@stux@mstdn.socialThe Ocean Cleanup’s System 03 Captures Record Amounts of #Plastic From the #Pacific
The #Ocean #Cleanup is currently testing System 03, a massive plastic #pollution collection device that captures tons of floating debris in the Great Pacific #Garbage Patch.
@stux This is NOT good news! This way you can cleanup for ever and ever. There is no politician who dares to confront the real polluters, the big plastic producing companies. They keep producing plastics without shame and without even the intention to recycle plastic. Born criminals, that is what they are.
I remember the pundits thrashing this ideas a few years back.
"Not going to work, too complicated, I won't do much".
Pretty much the general reaction when someone is proposing something that might make life better for normal folks and nature.
@Lily_and_frog @stux The problem with this is bycatch/bykill. The same winds and currents that bring plastic garbage together in the middle of the ocean also bring together natural floatsum that provides a nursery for countless species of marine life (including baby endangered sea turtles).
If you are going to catch plastic garbage, first don't make plastic garbage, and second catch it at the mouth's of rivers.
They seem to have addressed both problems you're pointing out. They have cameras looking for wildlife, hatches to let it escape and the whole thing moves slowly. They also made modified version for the most polluted rivers.
Of course, it's not a replacement to drastically reduce plastic use, but it's better than nothing.
@Lily_and_frog @stux The challenge is that so much of what is living in the flotsam is smaller than the fingernail on your pinkie. They are the nurseries. I don't see how a camera/catch and release approach could deal with the thousands of tiny creatures that are being scooped up every few minutes.
(Good that they are going after the rivers though).