Summary/Reader Response Draft #1 - Ocean Clean-Up Machine (a)

According to Schiller (2017),  the ocean clean-up machine is being designed into reality by a genius boy Boyan Slat. Schiller stated that Slat had set out a massive clean-up project using his vision of the ocean clean-up machine. The article quoted that oceanographer Charles Moore discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch had waste so thick that it forms solid areas one could walk on which was the reason for Slat's initiation. Schiller reported that Slat had received criticism and sceptics about the project when he proposed his initial design of a clean-up machine measuring 60 miles long to repair the seabed. Schiller then stated that after Slat made numerous vetting, his new idea was to split his initial design into 50 smaller devices of 0.6 miles each which is a better innovation as it allows the remaining machines to still work if any were to malfunction. Schiller pointed out that although building an individual device is more cost-saving and efficient than a huge clean-up machine, the individual devices require removal maintenance monthly. The article then concluded with Slat's future goal of making use of the waste collected to be recycled into useful materials.

The article was published in 2017. The prototype designed back then was named "Wilson". (Gloria, 2021) It was supposed to function independently using the wind. However due to its over reliance on wind to function, it does not have a clear direction to steer towards. Hence, it was ineffective and ultimately broke. (Gloria, 2021) The new prototype named "Jenny" on the other hand was an improved version of "Wilson". Its changes includes its larger target area, human manoeuver as well as use of ships for direction instead of relying on wind like previously. (Aria, 2021)

While the ocean clean-up machine may be costly and lack recognition, the benefits from the initiation outweights the high prices with the goal of protecting the ocean in mind.

The first benefit lies in its high results in extracting trash from the ocean. According to USA Today (2021), the machine had cleared more than 63,000 pounds of trash within a 3 months cleaning phase. That is an estimated weight of the humpback whale. This goes to show the huge potential of the ocean clean-up machine in the long run. With the amount of trash in the ocean, more large scale initiations like this machine are bound to aid us in reducing the pollution.

The second benefit lies in the ocean clean-up machine capability to prevent plastics from entering the ocean as well. The evolved version of the ocean clean up machine named "Interceptor" prevents plastic in entering the ocean. (Ocean Cleanup, n.d). According to the director of ocean policy at the Center for American Progress think tank, the best way to help the ocean in reducing its plastic is to first prevent plastic from getting into the ocean. (Gloria, 2021) By placing the intercepters to prevent plastic from entering the ocean, the group will have less plastic to clear from the ocean which ultimately aids them in the goal of plastic reduction. 

The third benefit lies in the ocean clean-up machine ability to cover a large target area. Compared to other designs such as the sea bin which has a smaller target area. The ocean clean-up machine is able to clear a large area in a shorter time. This will cause its productivity to be more efficient and less time is being required to clear a larger amount of trash.

All that being said, the drawback of the ocean clean up machine still lies in its reliance of using ship to maneouver the clean up process. The ship relies on heavy fuel usage which in turn release climate-warming greenhouse emissions. (Gloria, 2021) The ship is required in order for the machine to have a clear direction on its area to clear. However with the use of ship, fuel consumption is inevitable. This leads to the production of oil pollution and carbon emission at the cost of clearing up the plastic pollution. Hence, it is debatable as to whether the need to reduce plastic pollution outweighs the production of other forms of pollution.

However, it should be noted that the group is trying to experiment using less-polluting biofuels (Gloria, 2021). If they are successful in that, the benefits through the implementation of this machine will heavily outweigh the negative impacts and this will open the door for the group to create more of such innovations in the future.

Reference :

Schiller, B. (2017, June 30). Boy genius Boyan slat's giant ocean cleanup machine is real. Fast Company. 

USA Today (2021, October 29). Group extracts 63,000 pounds of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/world/2021/10/29/ocean-cleanup-pulls-trash-great-pacific-garbage-patch/6180821001/

Aria, B. (2021, October 15) A half-mile installation just took 20,000 pounds of plastic out of the Pacific - proof that ocean garbage can be cleaned. https://www.businessinsider.com/ocean-cleanup-device-removed-plastic-pacific-garbage-patch-2021-10

Ocean Cleanup (n,d). Rivers. https://theoceancleanup.com/rivers/

Gloria, D (2021, September 16). Ocean Cleanup struggles to fulfill promise to scoop up plastic at sea.  https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/ocean-cleanup-struggles-fulfill-promise-scoop-up-plastic-sea-2021-09-16/

Seabin Project (2022). Seabin v5. https://seabinproject.com/the-seabin-v5/