Thumbs Up! Ocean Phoenix Project and SeaVax – Two of Our Favourite Projects of the Month!

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There are tonnes of good ideas that can change the world. Regular readers of RESET will already know of a few. Every month, we will choose one idea that stands out thanks to its impact and innovative approach. Our favourite projects in March: Ocean Phoenix Project and SeaVax.

Autor*in Anna Rees, 03.31.16

There are tonnes of good ideas that can change the world. Regular readers of RESET will already know of a few. Every month, we will choose one idea that stands out thanks to its impact and innovative approach. Our favourite projects in March: Ocean Phoenix Project and SeaVax.

Many are aware of the problematic amount of plastic in our oceans. But how do we tackle this? This first step is, of course, to reduce plastic consumption so that it doesn’t end up in the ocean. Next, we have to figure how to clean up the plastic that’s already there. In the past, we’ve looked at a number of projects that use smart thinking and technology to remove plastic from the ocean: Boyan Slat’s Ocean Clean-Up Project; Seabin, developed by two Australian surfers; and the solar-powered wheel that catches debris and plastic waste before they make their way out to sea. Today, we look at the Ocean Phoenix Project and SeaVax.

Ocean Phoenix Project

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As part of the Ocean Phoenix Project, a super freight ship does laps in areas such as the North Pacific and collects plastic along the way. Size doesn’t matter: the ship is capable of collecting everything from large ship containers to micro-plastic pieces. The plastic is processed to the point that it can then be recycled back on land. The ship itself is 360m long and 115m wide. The first phase of the project will be carried by the company SAS Ocean Phoenix. You can also support the project here.

SeaVax and SeaNet

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The SeaVax ship from Bluebird Marine System collects rubbish from the water. The difference between and the Ocean Phoenix is that SeaVax is smaller, solar-powered and unmanned and collected plastic is brought on land for processing there. What’s particularly special about SeaVax is its accompaniment: drones that use satellite technology to steer the ship to its destination. The project aims to collect 22 million kg of rubbish per year. The project just successfully completed a big fundraising campaign via Avaaz. The funds will go towards developing an operational vessel.

Indeed, ideas on how to fish plastic out of our oceans abound. But many of the prototypes have a long way to go before they are sea-ready and can be put to work. Until then, between 5 and 13 million tonnes of plastic will likely end up in the oceans per year. In light of this, there could never be too many swimming rubbish collectors crisscrossing our oceans in search of “prey”.

Take a look at all our favourite projects: Thumbs Up!

Translated from this article by Sarah-Indra that originally appeared on our German-language platform.

Seabin: a Vacuum Cleaner for the Ocean

Two Australian surfers have designed an automated rubbish bin that literally sucks pollution out of the water at marinas and ports. This low-cost and low-maintenance solution could help keep marine litter under control.