Pollution in our Oceans- The Seabin

Transcription

1 Pollution in our Oceans- The Seabin White Paper Assignment Jonathan Gunter Cody Short Joseph Stearman English 319 Elif Guler Abstract One of the largest problems in our world today is the extreme pollution of our oceans and waterways. Each day, thousands of tons of trash and plastic debris are dumped into our oceans. Since plastic does not break down, like most natural substances, it is left floating in our waters. Unfortunately, these floating plastics become a meal for many of the animals that inhabit our oceans. This quite often leads to death because of their inability to digest the plastics. Even if the plastics do not become an

2 attempted food supply for these animals, they can instead get entangled in them, which can quite easily lead to the animals deaths. The solution to this problem is simple in concept - eliminate the waste materials. That is where the Seabin comes into play. The Seabin is a device that can be set up in ports and harbors around the world to stop the debris from leaving the port, and capture debris that makes it to the port from the ocean. It does this by simply filtering the water. Floating plastics get sucked off of the surface, filtered, and captured in the Seabins debris collection system, while all marine life nearby remains unharmed. Problem Statement Pollution of our oceans and waterways is a major issue in today's society. Humanity tends to forget that the earth is 71% water. There are currently millions of tons of debris already in our oceans, and plastic is the most common form of debris there is. According to a 2010 study, an estimated eight million metric tons of plastic waste is dumped into our oceans per year. Plastic does not break down like most natural substances, so there is no way for our oceans to get rid of it naturally. The marine life can not distinguish the difference between plastics and food, so the debris inevitably gets eaten, which leads to death or injury because of the animal s inability to digest the plastics. Furthermore, many animals get trapped in the plastics, which leads to a slow, painful death for these innocent creatures. A large portion of the pollution that flows into our waterways starts at inland ports and harbors. It is here where pollution enters through both commercial and recreational means. From the pollution that comes from everyday use of aquatic vehicles, to the people using the water as a source of entertainment, leftover garbage quickly makes it way out to sea. It is here that the pollution becomes introduced to the wildlife and causes many different problems. It is obvious that this trash does not belong here, but what is not obvious how to produce a cheap, robust solution for what has become a worldwide problem. Ultimately, the best solution would involve a reduction of littering and the introduction of aquatic vehicles that do not use oil; however, one must realize that one such solution is not very practical. With this, the real problem becomes how do we capture the debris that is introduced to the water and take care of it before it becomes a worse problem? Essentially, there needs to be some way that allows us to clean up our ocean and rid it of pollution by capturing any pollutants that try to make it into the system. Cleaning the ocean sometimes seems like an impossible task due to the sheer massive lengths of our waters worldwide. A cultural epiphany can occur, however, if society makes an attempt to dispose of waste properly before it reaches the open ocean.

3 Description of Solution The Seabin is a device that helps clean marinas, ports, and docks. By focusing on this one specific kind of water-location, the Seabin actually provides a solution to help clean waste in our waters before it reaches the open ocean. The Seabin sits near the top of the water, where all of the pollution floats, and sucks in everything around it. The Seabin can collect any type of pollution that floats on the top of the water. This includes fuel, detergents, plastics, wood, and many other types of debris.there is a water pump connecting the Seabin to a dock that pumps and filters out the water that the Seabin siphons in. Trash and debris is then left sitting in the bin. The inner mesh of the bin can then be periodically emptied into a trash can and disposed of responsibly. Even small amounts of oil can be collected into the bin to help clean oil damage. How Seabin Solves the Problem The Seabin can be set up around the world in ports and harbors. Its mission is to capture any debris that makes it to the port from the the incoming streams or rivers, or any material that comes in from the sea. It does this by filtering water, siphoning in all of the plastics from the top. It completes this goal while leaving all marine life unharmed. Seabin has the potential to become a universal product because of its mission to protect the waters and its simplicity. It is very easy to use and runs continuously throughout the week. It is also inexpensive to operate compared to other means of close shore cleaning like cumbersome trash-boats.

4 The Seabin floats on top of the water in a stationary position and slowly draws in surface water into its filtration system. This is key because there is a lot of trash that sits on top of the ocean. The Seabin can collect many garbage items such as old bottles or plastic bags. The water flows through the system as the motor plays the role of a diaphragm. The diaphragm pulls the water through the Seabin filter, bringing any trash with it. Updates on Seabin The Seabin has been in testing for nearly four years. It has also relied heavily on crowdfunding, raising over 260,000 dollars from various donors across the world, all of which care deeply about the health of our oceans. Recently, Seabin partnered with the port of Montenegro, a prestigious location for yachting in the Mediterranean. The port now acts as an ambassador for Seabin, attempting to push the universality and effectiveness of this innovative product. Seabin is set to make a large impact in the future despite the many challenges that lie ahead.

5 Conclusion With the use of the Seabin around the world we could significantly reduce this major problem. Our oceans are a major source of food and other supplies that we utilize. That is why we need to keep it as clean as possible, and protect the creatures that live in it. By engaging in close-shore waters specifically, Seabin knows what its goal is and how to do its part in helping clean the oceans. With the help of the Seabin, we can do our part to make close shore-waters a much more habitable and safe environment for all marine life. Motivation With all of the technological advances in today's society there were many options when it came to picking an interesting topic for our white paper. Our group decided that we wanted to investigate a product that could potentially be world changing. One of the group members mentioned a facebook video for an indiegogo campaign they saw. The product being promoted to potential investors was the Seabin. It seemed to be a revolutionary product in the war against pollution, so we decided it was the product we wanted to choose. After further research we realized that The Seabin is truly an amazing product with the potential to make a huge impact on the world. The only problem we have run into with it is that there is not a plethora of information on the product or its implementation because it is so new. We do however, believe that it is a noteworthy product and is worthy of this white paper.

6 Works Cited Ceglinski, Peter. "Cleaning the Oceans One Marina at a Time." Indiegogo. N.p., 14 Nov Web. 01 May Gartry, Laura. "Surfers Set to Turn Seabin Dream into Sales Reality." ABC News. N.p., 27 July Web. 01 May Jambeck, Jenna R., Roland Geyer, Chris Wilcox, Theodore R. Siegler, Miriam Perryman, Anthony Andrady, Ramani Narayan, and Kara Lavender Law. "Plastic Waste Inputs from Land into the Ocean." Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 13 Feb Web. 01 May Rinkesh. "20 Facts About Ocean Pollution." Conserve Energy Future. N.p., 07 Jan Web. 01 May 2017.