$7.5 Billion. That’s How Much it Would Cost to Clean Up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Fun (well, not so fun, actually) fact: the largest accumulation zone of trash on earth is 1.6 million square meters. That’s the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a vortex of swirling waste, debris, and plastic between the West Coast and Japan, festering. And to put that into perspective, it’s about the size of Alaska or the country of Mongolia. Yeah, it’s huge.

So, how much money would it take to clean that up? A cool $7.5 billion.

Dutch inventor and entrepreneur, founder of The Ocean Cleanup, has made it his life’s work to tackle this, quite literally, gargantuan problem. To do so, he employs a system which: “The circulating currents in the garbage patch move the plastic around, creating natural ever-shifting hotspots of higher concentration. With the help of computational modeling, we predict where these hotspots are and place the cleanup systems in these areas.”

Related: Saving Our Surf May Be the Best Way to Save the Planet

They use a series of floating systems, which are

“designed to capture plastics ranging from small pieces, just millimeters in size, up to large debris, including massive, discarded fishing nets (ghost nets), which can be tens of meters wide.

“Modeling predicts we need around 10 full-size systems to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

“After fleets of systems are deployed into every ocean gyre, combined with source reduction, The Ocean Cleanup projects to be able to remove 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040.”

So, there’s still a ways to go. But the technology continues to improve. And a few days ago – September 7th – they brought back tons and tons of trash to San Francisco. They are also employing a new system of GPS trackers to assist.

Look, the ocean is our playground. Let’s help support this effort and help in any way we can. Check how to donate – or fundraise – here .

Related: Over 17 Million Pounds Of Trash Removed From The Seas By The Ocean Cleanup

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