As the video explains, it does not merely suck up plastic and other solid waste, but can also help get rid of chemicals, such as oil or detergent, in these marinas. Whilst not the biggest piece of equipment, it is certainly doing it's part - one of their tweets from last month boasted a day's catch totalling 4.5kg of waste in just one Seabin. A Seabin in every marina across the world might therefore help clear up a fair few kilos of waste! Admittedly though, this is a limited solution, for example it does not address the millions of tonnes of marine debris that are floating around in vast ocean gyres. My coming posts will look at the other initiatives that are gathering momentum with regard to tackling the seemingly more daunting problems such as this. However, I thought this was a fitting way to kick off my posts on solutions, as first and foremost the rubbish in the ocean is coming from us, and these guys prove that we need look no further than ourselves to start tackling this problem.
Saturday 26 November 2016
Surfing Entrepreneurs
Now that we've given a considerable amount of attention to some of the impacts of marine pollution, I feel it appropriate to address some of the possible solutions to it. There is a host of potential solutions, each addressing different aspects of ocean waste. However, I wanted to dedicate my first post on solutions to the people who actually inspired me to write my blog on marine pollution in the first place. Some of you may have been wondering (or may have completely forgotten) what I was alluding to in my first post when I mentioned surfing entrepreneurs. They are the founders of The Seabin Project - an ocean cleanup initiative that involves placing specially crafted bins in marinas, which suck up ocean waste around the clock. In short, these surfing entrepreneurs are a couple of guys who prove that you don't need to be a high ranking official in government to implement a plan to help clean up the ocean. A short video is posted below on who these guys are and how their Seabin works.
As the video explains, it does not merely suck up plastic and other solid waste, but can also help get rid of chemicals, such as oil or detergent, in these marinas. Whilst not the biggest piece of equipment, it is certainly doing it's part - one of their tweets from last month boasted a day's catch totalling 4.5kg of waste in just one Seabin. A Seabin in every marina across the world might therefore help clear up a fair few kilos of waste! Admittedly though, this is a limited solution, for example it does not address the millions of tonnes of marine debris that are floating around in vast ocean gyres. My coming posts will look at the other initiatives that are gathering momentum with regard to tackling the seemingly more daunting problems such as this. However, I thought this was a fitting way to kick off my posts on solutions, as first and foremost the rubbish in the ocean is coming from us, and these guys prove that we need look no further than ourselves to start tackling this problem.
As the video explains, it does not merely suck up plastic and other solid waste, but can also help get rid of chemicals, such as oil or detergent, in these marinas. Whilst not the biggest piece of equipment, it is certainly doing it's part - one of their tweets from last month boasted a day's catch totalling 4.5kg of waste in just one Seabin. A Seabin in every marina across the world might therefore help clear up a fair few kilos of waste! Admittedly though, this is a limited solution, for example it does not address the millions of tonnes of marine debris that are floating around in vast ocean gyres. My coming posts will look at the other initiatives that are gathering momentum with regard to tackling the seemingly more daunting problems such as this. However, I thought this was a fitting way to kick off my posts on solutions, as first and foremost the rubbish in the ocean is coming from us, and these guys prove that we need look no further than ourselves to start tackling this problem.
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Hi Isaac! I guess it's great to see people like this taking initiative, but as they say in their video they were motivated to do so as they spend so much time in the sea, amongst all that waste. Do you think it is harder to motivate other people to take positive action when they may seldom visit the beach and so are far more detached from the effects of ocean pollution?
ReplyDeleteHi Hattie,
DeleteThanks for this question and it does perhaps get at one of the core problems ocean waste - the fact that it comes from us! Yes, it may be out of our hands in some cases, such as that of mismanaged waste disposal sites. But ultimately, motivating people can be hard, even people on the beach who might still be amongst all that waste tend to litter there, as a huge source of marine plastic is from recreational activities at the coast.
I wouldn't claim to have the right answer as to how you motivate people but I do believe raising awareness over the damage it can cause is key. For example, the introduction of graphic warning labels on cigarette packets was found in some studies to reduce the prevalence of smoking by up to 20.
(http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2013/11/11/tobaccocontrol-2013-051170).
Could this be adopted for marine waste? I'm not sure putting graphic pictures of suffering animals on all plastic packaging would be a good idea, but the smoking example does show that raising awareness of the devastating effects of something can be an effective motivator.
Isaac