The Ocean Cleanup, an organization dedicated to removing plastic waste from oceans, has recently collected its hundredth load of waste from the Pacific Ocean. This is an important milestone in their mission to make the world’s seas cleaner and protect the environment.
What is The Ocean Cleanup project?
The Ocean Cleanup’s approach involves the use of large, floating systems placed in the ocean to capture plastic waste. These systems utilize the natural currents of the ocean to gather the plastic. Once collected, the waste is brought on board ships and transported to land for recycling and responsible disposal.
The hundredth load is a significant achievement as it demonstrates the effectiveness and sustainability of their technology. The success of this mission underscores the necessity and feasibility of large-scale cleanup efforts and reducing the impact of plastic pollution.
In total, the organization has removed 385,000 kilograms of plastic from the Pacific Ocean. That is twice the weight of the Statue of Liberty in New York.
The project not only focuses on the Pacific Ocean but also aims to address plastic pollution in rivers, as a substantial amount of plastic waste reaches the ocean through rivers. By combining river and ocean cleanup, The Ocean Cleanup strives for a comprehensive solution to the global problem of plastic pollution.
This achievement is an encouraging step towards cleaner oceans and a healthier marine environment, which is essential for biodiversity and the well-being of the planet.
About author
Daan van Dijken
Ten years ago, I started setting up a freshwater aquarium. Since then, I always have been fascinated by the underwater world. Together with my wife, we have been fortunate to discover this on many beautiful journeys and explored the magnificent underwater world through diving. In 2023, we have started a 60-liter saltwater aquarium. Soon, we realized that we wanted to further expand our saltwater aquarium hobby, so we switched to a Red Sea Peninsula 650. It's a fantastic aquarium that brings daily joy to me, my wife, and our daughter. I enjoy keeping up with the latest developments in the saltwater world and love exploring how to make my tank even smarter and easier to maintain. As a newcome, I would like to share all my experiences in setting up a saltwater aquarium with you!
About author
Stefan van Beek
Salt has always run in my blood. From birth, aquariums surrounded me, first at my grandfather's and later at my parents’ place. Now, at the age of 30, I've been able to set up my dream tank, a 160x70x70 peninsula. Corals hold the second spot for me; fish and the entire ecosystem are the reasons I have an aquarium. Nearly a decade ago, I started with my first aquarium, making plenty of mistakes and learning a great deal from them. Since 2021, I've been working at Ocean&Lake in the Netherlands, where I am now fully responsible for the saltwater department.