Timothy Nguyen ’23
If you watch YouTube at all, you most likely have heard of the content creators, Mr. Beast and Mark Rober. Known for the immense effort that they put into the production of their videos, they are now using their platforms, both consisting of millions of followers, to spread awareness on the true nature of ocean pollution today. In May 2019, these two YouTubers previously collaborated on a project known as TeamTrees that raised over 20 million dollars for the sole purpose of planting trees. And now, they have started a fundraiser called TeamSeas to lessen ocean pollution, and further preserve our oceanic environment.
The goal of TeamSeas is to immensely lessen the pollution in the vast ocean on our planet. And they plan to accomplish this extremely difficult task by partnering with The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit engineering environmental organization that was founded by Boyan Slat. The organization has already built a variety of different technologies that are capable of either helping extract trash from the ocean, or preventing it from even getting into the ocean in the first place.
According to research done by The Ocean Cleanup, rivers are the primary source of transportation for the monstrous amount of pollution that is in the ocean today. And so, they have developed a machine to intercept the garbage before it reaches the ocean known as Interceptors. These Interceptors, which run constantly 24/7 on solar power, have already been deployed at rivers in Indonesia and the Dominican Republic, and have collected over 2.2 million pounds of garbage to date.
Note: Photograph of one of the Interceptors that was placed in the Dominican Republic.
On the other hand, to remove the garbage that has already found its way to the ocean, the Ocean Cleanup has developed an artificial coast-line by having two ships sail in the expansive ocean, while carrying large tubes connecting to a net that will allow for trash to be effectively collected. The Ocean Cleanup estimate that if they can use ten of these artificial coast-lines in the ocean simultaneously for the next 20 years, over 90% of ocean pollution would be cleaned.
In less than a month, Team Seas has already raised 16 million dollars in donations, and they plan to reach 30 million by January 1st, 2022. If you would like to donate, or learn more about the processes that TeamSeas plan to implement to improve our oceanic environment, please go to their website at teamseas.org. And to learn more about the numerous interesting technologies that The Ocean Cleanup have invented, please visit their website at theoceancleanup.com.
The Salesian Spectator 