A week before the Ocean Cleanup launch from San Francisco, California, I was reading comments on the Ocean Cleanup Facebook page. The majority of the comments were positive, supportive, and encouraging. People were calling Boyan Slat and his crew heroes. And I agreed with them. But many comments made me very angry.
I could not believe the negativity. It is always amazing to me that people who have nothing to contribute will still go out of their way to put down someone else’s ideas. These skeptical Facebook people don’t have resolutions. They don’t have a plan. But they know with absolute certainty that Boyan’s method won’t work.
In response, I wrote the below post. I have to admit, it has been cleaned up quite a bit (no pun intended). Steam was coming out of my ears as I wrote it because the negative comments were so out of place in the middle of such a brave and positive plan to resolve a world-wide problem.
Ask anyone how to solve the plastic problem and their answer is going to be, “avoid using plastic whenever you can.” But that is only one part of the problem.
We tend to feel like taking our reusable bags to the grocery store instead of bringing home a dozen plastic bags is enough. Refilling our stainless-steel water bottles is enough. Not using straws anymore is enough. Boyan Slat went scuba diving and saw more plastic than fish in the ocean and decided – enough.
Boyan, an amazing young man, was just a kid when he started The Ocean Cleanup, his plan to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. He is to be championed and imitated and most of all, assisted. We should all back him up in whatever way we can because he has the courage and the strength to try to undo the mess we made while we were completely unaware of the damage our convenience-based lifestyle was causing to the environment.
I often advocate for recycling or avoiding single-use plastics when possible. And I am very excited about the new advancements that bio-based material makers are contributing to the plastics industry. However, I am also aware that the plastic problem affecting the environment cannot be fixed by any one institution, government, company, brand, or group of people.
I understand that not using single-use plastic today may have a positive effect tomorrow. But, using a refillable bottle instead of buying a case of individual water bottles will not remove a single piece of the plastic floating in the ocean today.
I am impressed by Boyan’s willingness to go out and make a solution rather than wait for someone else to do it. He didn’t point fingers. He didn’t lobby to get someone else to clean it up. He didn’t need anyone’s permission to come up with an idea. He didn’t wait for someone to show up and tell him what to do. He saw a problem and designed a solution for it. Not just any problem, but one that affects the entire world.
It would be amazing if his system works flawlessly on September 8, when it launches. If it doesn’t, he is not afraid to alter his plan until he gets it right. He’s already been through several prototypes of his clean up system. I think if the System 001 doesn’t work as he intends, he will try again and again until it does. He is an inspiration for people to stop waiting for someone else to do something about the environmental problems that exist today.
His 300k+ followers on The Ocean Cleanup’s Facebook page and I are behind him. I wish him and the entire crew of The Ocean Cleanup good luck next Saturday.
#oceancleanup
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own.
The links provided are for informational purposes only and are not affiliate links.
Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/photo-1017596/