Could this 20-year-old genius save the world?

With five trillion pieces of plastic currently floating in the Earth’s ocean, killing ocean life every day, the idea of cleaning up the mess seems unfathomable.

But humanity has a knack for finding ingenious solutions to its own problems; we may have a simple, practical and affordable solution. Better yet, it comes from the mind of a 20-year-old.

Boyan Slat, the young founder of The Ocean Cleanup organisation, has designed a floating structure that will trap debris using a conveyer belt, propelled by the ocean’s own currents.

The organisation has now announced it will be ready to deploy the first structure off the coast of Japan early next year, according to IFL Science,

“Taking care of the world’s ocean garbage problem is one of the largest environmental challenges mankind faces today,” said Slat.”

“Not only will this first cleanup array contribute to cleaner waters and coasts but it simultaneously is an essential step towards our goal of cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”

The Ocean Cleanup has also launched The Mega Expedition, an initiative to create a detailed map of the plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean using 60 vessels, as detailed in the video below.

Watch the video below, and tell us: does this provide hope for our planet’s future? 

https://youtu.be/rOlg4CkvHAg