This is a good example on using the mind to do worthwhile projects to benefit oneself and the world.
Video information
Boyan Slat (@BoyanSlat, Delft, 1994) combines environmentalism, creativity and technology to tackle global issues of sustainability. Currently working on oceanic plastic pollution, he believes current prevention measures will have to be supplemented by active removal of plastics in order to succeed. With his concept called Marine Litter Extraction, Boyan Slat proposes a radical clean-up solution, for which he won the Best Technical Design award 2012 at the TU Delft.
Where millions of tons of plastic kill ocean life and poison food chains, Boyan sees opportunities to combat this. While researching ocean plastics during school holidays, he performed analysis on various fundamental topics (including particle sizes, plastic/plankton separation and the amount of plastic in the oceans), leading up to the first realistic concept for cleaning up the world’s oceans.
Now a first-year Aerospace Engineering student at the TU Delft, Boyan has always been passionate about applying technology in an original way (at age fourteen he set a world record with launching 213 water rockets), and as an (underwater)photographer and videographer witnesses environmental degradation through his very own eyes.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
According to this article, a 19-year-old student, Boyan Slat, planned to develop an ocean cleanup array – it is inspiring of him to use his resources to do something worthwhile for both humanity and the environment. He also has a website devoted to this project.
I have checked out the above video on how he has been working on innovative measures to reduce oceanic plastic pollution. I think his project is worth implementing, especially since we are living in a “plastic age”, and it can be difficult to manually remove plastic waste that had been washed into the ocean which may be eaten by small fishes and other sea creatures, which may in turn end up on our dinner tables eventually as a result of our food chains being poisoned. From my understanding, the automatic cleanup method he proposed, which runs on clean natural energy such as solar energy, looks set to be financially viable, technologically efficient and ecologically sound. It promotes recycling of used plastic too.
Please click here if you want to find out how you can get involved in this worthwhile project.
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- 19-Year-Old Develops Ocean Cleanup Array of Plastic From the World’s Oceans by Timon Singh (jobshopblog.wordpress.com)
- Ocean Array Could Clean 7,250,000 Tons of Plastic (mashable.com)
- Group of scientists argue plastic should be treated as hazardous waste (pri.org)
- How Addiction to Plastic Poisons Our Planet (carolineboyce.wordpress.com)
- An Interview with Ryan Moralevitz (An Amazing Little Boy Making a BIG Difference. (readfulthingsblog.com)
- Assembly bill would cut plastic trash to ocean (utsandiego.com)
- Great ocean garbage patches ‘share’ plastic waste (environmentalresearchweb.org)
- The Ocean (oceankisses.wordpress.com)
- Mapping Sanitation: a Tedx Talk by Faisal Chohan, a Senior TED Fellow (washlink.wordpress.com)
- Creation groans for the manifestation of the sons of God
- Ocean Cleanup Array developed by 19-year-old could save millions each year, and impact human health
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