Why Support The Ocean Cleanup

Ethan Love

Embry-Riddle

COM 122 English Composition

Alison Wimmer

November 11, 2023

 Why Support The Ocean Cleanup

Approximately 750,000 marine species live in the ocean, that is roughly 50% of the

Earth’s population in just the oceans (Marine Bio, 2023). Protecting the oceans from trash that

damages the marine ecosystem is critical to the future of life on Earth. The Ocean Cleanup is a

non-profit organization whose goal is to clean the ocean of trash through their innovative cleanup

technology that includes barriers, nets, and pick up systems. The Ocean CleanUp is the most

effective non-profit because of their mission to clean up the world's oceans, the trash collecting

technology they create, and the research they conduct.

Dutch inventor Boyan Slat founded The Ocean Cleanup at the age of 18 in his hometown

of Delft, Netherlands (The Ocean CleanUp, 2023). At 16 years of age, Boyan Slat saw more

plastic bags than fish when scuba diving in Greece. He thought: “Why can’t we just clean this

up?” In 2012, Boyan Slat held a TEDx talk about how to rid the world’s oceans of plastic using

technology. The video went viral, and the momentum that followed allowed him to drop out of

school and founded The Ocean CleanUp. His non-profit focuses on the development and scaling

of ocean and river clean up technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. Their aim is to put

themselves out of business once the oceans are clean (The Ocean CleanUp, 2023).

Oceans on Earth take up about 139 million square miles and are the largest ecosystem on

the planet. Although large, the ocean is a very sensitive ecosystem. It is the job of humans to

protect this extraordinary habitat. Every year an increased amount of plastics flow into the

oceans from rivers; this plastic can range from microscopic Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS)

to large plastic barrels or even kayaks. All this trash piles up and creates large garbage patches,

like the Pacific Garbage Patch. “Estimated to be twice the size of Texas, the North Pacific

Subtropical Gyre is often called “The Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch” (NOAA, 2013).
Plastic in the ocean creates an unsafe environment for marine life of any size. Marine life might

try and eat it or swim into and trap themselves causing injury. “Globally, at least 23 % of marine

mammal species, 36 % of seabird species, and 86 % of sea turtle species are known to be

affected by plastic debris” (Stamper, 2009). Marine life from all over the world have been found

stuck in plastic. Micro plastics are ingested by fish and infect them making them unhealthy, this

can cause a chain reaction when larger fish or humans consume them. The ocean is a big part of

the global ecosystem and if it begins to fail then life all around the globe will struggle. It is in the

best interest of humanity to clean up the oceans, because if plastic continues to infect the ocean,

then life on Earth will suffer due to a lack of an important food source.

The Ocean CleanUp is one of many nonprofit organizations whose focus is ridding the

ocean of harmful plastic. Their focus is stopping the flow of plastic from rivers to the ocean. The

Ocean CleanUp solves this problem by developing automated trash pickup systems. They place

these systems at the end of a river right before it flows into the ocean. According to Boyan Slat,

“but if we want a plastic-free ocean, we should start by focusing on areas where our leverage is

greatest. Interception in rivers is the fastest and most cost-effective way to prevent plastic from

reaching the ocean and the most pragmatic way to address this problem with the urgency it

demands” (Slat, Boyan 2023). The best way to eliminate the trash problem in the ocean is to cut

off the source. Prioritizing cleaning rivers will eliminate the flow of trash into the ocean. One of

The Ocean CleanUp’s solutions is The Interceptor. The Interceptor is a high-tech solution with

solar-powered mechanics, smart processing, and connectivity for easy performance tracking.

Due to its autonomous and large cleaning capacity, it is the primary technology to evaluate

feasibility in any new river they plan to tackle (the Ocean CleanUp, 2023). The Interceptor is

used in conjunction with the Interceptor Barrier. The Interceptor Barrier is a solution that
consists of a standalone floating barrier anchored in a U-shape around the mouth of a small river

(The Ocean CleanUp, 2023). This system intercepts the trash and buffers it until it is removed

from the water. In the case of open water, The Ocean CleanUp drags a large net that sits 4 feet

under the water to capture floating plastic in the water (The Ocean CleanUp, 2023) Trash flows

from the net into a holding net and when it gets full, it is pulled onto the ship and emptied. Using

these clean up technologies will quickly and efficiently reduce the amount of plastic in the water.

The last way the Ocean CleanUp contributes to the cleaning of the ocean is buy conduction field

research. The Ocean CleanUp conducts a magnitude of research including field sampling, remote

sensing, laboratory testing, and numerical modeling. Field sampling is used to monitor the

impact of the cleanup and help shape their strategy. Teams have conducted several offshore

expeditions in the subtropical gyres of the North Atlantic and the North Pacific Oceans. Remote

sensing is critical to the success of the cleanup process. The whole project depends on access to

up-to-date global information on floating plastic accumulation. One of the ways they gather data

is through aerial observation. The Ocean CleanUp is in the process of incorporating AI systems

to automate the collection of data. Laboratory testing is used to understand the impact plastic has

on the ocean. Testing is conducted on different polymer types in ocean conditions. Lastly,

numerical modeling is used to forecast the accumulation of ocean plastics globally.

Non-profits have a notorious problem not being able to scale up production. Unlike

businesses, non-profits do not have a product that can be sold for profit. This causes them to not

have the funds needed to increase in size. To solve this problem, non-profits will create

merchandise, like clothing, to sell to donors to make extra money and not rely on pure donations.

In the case of The Ocean CleanUp, they are building large, expensive pieces of technology off
donations. These donations are not a consistent flow of income and can be unreliable at times.

So, the problem arises, how do we scale clean up efforts to make a bigger impact?

Providing support to non-profits is the best way to help them out. This can include

anything from donating money or goods to joining them. The Ocean CleanUp provides multiple

ways normal hardworking people can help. The first and best way is by donating money. Non-

profits rely heavily on donations in order to function. Donations go towards paying employees,

running buildings, and completing projects. If someone wants to get involved with The Ocean

CleanUp, the best way is to donate. Another way to help The Ocean CleanUp is by becoming an

employee. On their website they list multiple job openings ranging from a Hydro Engineer to

Paralegal. They also provide internship opportunities to college students. They are looking for

passionate problem-solving individuals who care about the oceans. Applying is as easy as going

on the website and clicking. Lastly, The Ocean CleanUp created an app for citizens to download.

This app allows users to count pieces of trash floating down a river near them. They also provide

one for the ocean as well. The data collected from these surveys will help refine their global river

plastic transport models. It also helps identify pollution hotspots that are best suited for the

deployment of cleanup efforts.

In closing, through their innovative technology and the research they conduct, The Ocean

CleanUp is a crucial non-profit because of their mission to clean up the world's oceans, the

innovated collecting technology, and the timely and accurate research they conduct. Their

Interceptors are leading edge on clean up technology. Cleaning up the oceans is a long and

daunting task, but with The Ocean CleanUp it may be easier than thought. In order for life on

Earth to continue to thrive, we need to keep the oceans clean.

 References

Andrew Stamper, M., Spicer, C. W., Neiffer, D. L., Mathews, K. S., & Fleming, G. J. (2009).

Morbidity in a juvenile green sea turtle (chelonia mydas) due to ocean-borne plastic.

Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 40(1), 196-198. https://doi.org/10.1638/2007-0101.1

GREENTECH FESTIVAL. (2020). Interview: Boyan slat | GTF 2020. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbDHCCVLuSw

Marine Bio. (2023). Did you know…? marine life / ocean facts…. Marine Bio.

https://www.marinebio.org/creatures/facts/#:~:text=So%2C%20there%20are%20at

%20least,97%25%20of%20the%20Earth's%20water.

NOAA. (2013). Where are the pacific garbage patches? NOAA.

https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/where-are-pacific-garbage-patches.html

The ocean CleanUp. (2023). The Ocean CleanUp. https://theoceancleanup.com/

Sigler, M. (2014). The effects of plastic pollution on aquatic wildlife: Current situations and

future solutions. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 225(11), 1-9.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-014-2184-6

Slat, B. (2023, May 25,). Reducing plastic pollution in our oceans is simpler than you think. New

York Times (Online) https://search.proquest.com/docview/2818618679

The Ocean CleanUp. (2022). Interceptor 007 faces the first rain event in LA (& stops 35,000 lbs

of waste) | the ocean cleanup. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=BpYvhMinQoU