A half-mile installation just took 20k pounds of plastic out of the Pacific

Re:A half-mile installation just took 20k pounds of plastic ... by what_is_orcas on Friday October 15, 2021 @09:51AM (#28877678)

> "Once plastic has gotten into the open ocean, it becomes very expensive and fossil-fuel intensive to get it back out again," Miriam Goldstein, director of ocean policy at the Center for American Progress think tank, recently told Reuters.

It's a great effort, but for now it seems like it's just trading pollution for pollution...

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Re:A half-mile installation just took 20k pounds of plastic ... by MR4D on Friday October 15, 2021 @10:21AM (#28877958)

Pollution isn't fungible, as mentioned in the article.

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Re:A half-mile installation just took 20k pounds of plastic ... by what_is_orcas on Friday October 15, 2021 @10:48AM (#28878274)

Sure, I guess my point is that it's not a simple equation.

Personally, I think the plastics in the ocean are probably more harmful than the emissions required to clean it up, but it's not as simple as saying "look, we cleaned it up and now there's x-amount less pollution".

I probably shouldn't make such brief, inarticulate comments.

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Re:A half-mile installation just took 20k pounds of plastic ... by nobodyandproud on Friday October 15, 2021 @08:29PM (#28884602)

Most of the cleanup involves existing trash floating in the ocean.

Capturing new trash requires a different approach.

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