(Videos) Inspirational Update on Cleaning Up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
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Boylan Slat decided that he had to do something about the plastics he met while scuba diving. In 2015, I posted how he was taking on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. He thought then that he had to choose between stopping dumping into the oceans or cleaning up what’s already out there. He chose Ocean Cleanup.
The Ocean
You can browse the many videos of what he and his teams have done since then on their Youtube channel but here's a 3 minute summary of their latest work on scooping up tons of plastic for recyling. (For video problems, click View Original Post.)
The Rivers
It’s ironic that the knowledge and skill his groups have is now being used to catch the outflow of garbage in rivers outlets before it get to any ocean, a task Boylan sidestepped in his early years. Take a minute and a half to see how below.
Our Climate Efforts
Most of us are not about to dedicate our lives to climate action as Boylan Slat has. And we might get discouraged by the size of our own efforts to reduce the plastics pollution. It might help to see how Boylan’s noticing plastics led to this huge endeavor.
I believe there’s a secret sauce that helped him get through the many doubts and obstacles that he had to face.
He started with something he cared about.
He started with scuba diving, wanting its magic to be restored. It seems that his simple desire powered him through many rounds of doubts, worry, and sadness on the way to these booms that work!
He describes the work as taking place in a repeating cycle of thinking through a solution, trying it, and learning from it. I’m taking home the basic bones of that for a handy guide to climate change efforts on my part.
Care. Think. Act. Learn.
Repeat.
First he cared.
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