it’s not clear in the article what they’re doing with the waste they recover. Simply moving it around doesn’t eliminate the garbage. And the project does not appear to include a budget for recycling or otherwise repurposing what they recover.
I found this with three clicks on project’s web site:
“Once our containers are full of plastic onboard, we bring them back to shore for recycling. For each system batch, we are making durable and sustainable products. Supporters getting the products will help fund the continued ocean cleanup. Catch, rinse, recycle and repeat - until the oceans are clean. The sunglasses are a proof of concept for this.”
It might not seem like much yet, but it’s better than nothing, and we have to start somewhere.
It might not seem like much yet, but it’s better than nothing
I’ve been hearing this line repeated ad nauseum since the 80s. Occasionally they pan out, but far more often you’re looking at a Google Graveyard of underfunded ideas and abandoned projects.
In this case “we’re going to turn the Texas Garbage Patch into sunglasses” doesn’t fill me with excitement.
I’m skeptical too, but I choose to retain some optimism in a world with so much terrible stuff. This project seems to have more than zero potential, without introducing obvious great harm.
Only using the plastic junk to make more plastic trinkets is not successfully recycling, no matter how they market it as such. It needs to be used for practical value products at least in part or it’s just another way of reformatting the trash
People will say this to pretend you shouldn’t criticize any incentives that have decent effects. Cleaning it and putting in landfills is better than oceans. But making more trash to be thrown out isn’t solving anything
I found this with three clicks on project’s web site:
“Once our containers are full of plastic onboard, we bring them back to shore for recycling. For each system batch, we are making durable and sustainable products. Supporters getting the products will help fund the continued ocean cleanup. Catch, rinse, recycle and repeat - until the oceans are clean. The sunglasses are a proof of concept for this.”
It might not seem like much yet, but it’s better than nothing, and we have to start somewhere.
I’ve been hearing this line repeated ad nauseum since the 80s. Occasionally they pan out, but far more often you’re looking at a Google Graveyard of underfunded ideas and abandoned projects.
In this case “we’re going to turn the Texas Garbage Patch into sunglasses” doesn’t fill me with excitement.
I’m skeptical too, but I choose to retain some optimism in a world with so much terrible stuff. This project seems to have more than zero potential, without introducing obvious great harm.
Only using the plastic junk to make more plastic trinkets is not successfully recycling, no matter how they market it as such. It needs to be used for practical value products at least in part or it’s just another way of reformatting the trash
You’re not wrong. Stuff like construction materials would be better. Hopefully this is a step towards that.
We all look forward to the success of your superior alternative.
People will say this to pretend you shouldn’t criticize any incentives that have decent effects. Cleaning it and putting in landfills is better than oceans. But making more trash to be thrown out isn’t solving anything