ClassX Video Lessons Youtube Channel The Engineering Mindset 10 Engineering projects Tackling Ocean Pollution #TeamSeas
Have you ever walked along a river, stream, or beach and noticed all the trash lying around? It’s a big problem for our planet, and that’s why TeamSeas.org is on a mission to clean it up. They’re aiming to raise $30 million to remove 30 million pounds of trash from our oceans, rivers, and beaches. I’m supporting this cause by donating $500, and you can join in too!
Here are some amazing and creative solutions that engineers and scientists are working on to fight this global issue:
Ocean Cleanup is a nonprofit organization that’s building artificial coastlines to catch lots of trash. They use a U-shaped barrier that goes 3 meters deep and moves through the water at about 2 miles per hour. This system gathers trash and moves it to a special area for collection. They hope to use many of these systems to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The SEBin is a small device that can collect up to 1.5 kilograms of trash every day. It creates a vortex that pulls floating trash into a filter, which can be easily emptied.
Waste Shark is a robot that can clean up to 200 liters of ocean trash. It floats with its mouth open to collect debris and can also check the water quality, helping scientists with their research.
ClearBot is another robot that uses computer vision and swarm robotics to find and collect floating trash. These robots are smart—they can charge themselves, navigate on their own, and use artificial intelligence to gather up to 250 kilograms of trash.
For trash on the ocean floor, there’s Hector the Collector. This robot is controlled remotely and can dive down to collect trash. It uses sonar to find and gather plastics.
Since a lot of trash enters the ocean through rivers, Ocean Cleanup has created the Interceptor. This solar-powered device works on its own to remove trash from rivers. It directs trash to a mount, where it’s taken out by a conveyor belt, collecting up to 10,000 kilograms of trash per day.
The Bubble Barrier uses an underwater diffuser to create a barrier of bubbles that traps litter. The litter is then guided to a collection point by the flow of water. It’s a simple but effective method.
The Trash Trap is a large net placed over drainage outlets to catch trash. In 2018, these nets were used to stop trash from entering the Heny Reserve, and in just four months, they caught 370 kilograms of trash. Once full, they can be removed by a crane, and the trash can be sorted and recycled.
For cigarette butts on our beaches, there’s the Beach Bot. This robot uses artificial intelligence to find and remove cigarette butts from the sand.
Even satellites are helping out! They can spot floating patches of macroplastics using visible and infrared light. This data helps create a map of where the trash is, so it can be collected later.
If you know of any other cool projects tackling ocean waste, let me know! And don’t forget to check out TeamSeas.org to get involved in this awesome cause to clean up our oceans.
Design and build a small-scale model of an ocean cleanup device using household materials. Think about how you can mimic the U-shaped barrier of Ocean Cleanup’s Artificial Coastlines. Test your model in a tub of water with floating debris and see how effective it is at collecting trash.
Use your creativity to design a robot similar to Waste Shark or ClearBot. Draw a detailed sketch of your robot, labeling its parts and explaining how it would function to collect ocean trash. Consider how it could be powered and how it would navigate through water.
Create a simple bubble barrier using a straw and a small aquarium pump. Place it in a container of water with floating debris and observe how the bubbles can guide trash to a collection point. Discuss how this method could be scaled up to work in real rivers or oceans.
Choose one of the engineering projects mentioned in the article and research it further. Prepare a short presentation to share with your class, explaining how the project works, its impact on ocean pollution, and any challenges it faces.
Plan a cleanup event at a local beach, river, or park. Work with your classmates to collect trash and sort it for recycling. Reflect on the experience by discussing how local actions can contribute to solving global issues like ocean pollution.
When you walk along any river, stream, or beach, you will see trash, rubbish, or garbage—whichever term you prefer. It’s clear that this issue is harming our planet. That’s why we’re supporting TeamSeas.org, and we want you to get involved in their global challenge to raise $30 million to remove 30 million pounds of trash from our oceans, rivers, and beaches. I’m donating $500 to the cause, and I’ll leave a link in the video description for how you can participate.
I want to share some incredible and innovative solutions that engineers and scientists are creating to tackle this global epidemic. Links to each of these initiatives can be found in the video description.
One nonprofit, called Ocean Cleanup, is developing artificial coastlines to capture large quantities of trash. They use a U-shaped barrier that sits 3 meters deep and is towed through the water at around 2 miles per hour. This system collects trash and guides it to a retention zone at the far end. They plan to scale this into a fleet of systems to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Another great solution is the SEBin, a small device that can collect up to 1.5 kilograms of trash per day by creating a vortex around its upper edge, pulling floating trash into a filter that is easily emptied.
Then there’s Waste Shark, a robot designed to clean up to 200 liters of ocean trash. The robot floats with its mouth open to collect debris and can also analyze water quality to aid scientific research.
Another robot, named ClearBot, uses computer vision and swarm robotics to identify and collect floating trash. These robots are self-charging, self-navigating, and utilize artificial intelligence to collect up to 250 kilograms of trash.
For plastics on the ocean floor, there’s a robot called Hector the Collector. This robot is controlled remotely and can dive down to collect trash, using sonar to locate and gather plastics.
Since a large portion of trash enters the ocean via rivers, Ocean Cleanup has created another device called the Interceptor. This solar-powered device extracts trash autonomously and can operate in most rivers. It directs trash flowing in the current to the Interceptor mount, where it is extracted via a conveyor belt. It is estimated to collect up to 10,000 kilograms of trash per day.
Another river-based technology is the Bubble Barrier, which uses an underwater diffuser to distribute air and form a barrier that traps litter. This litter is then guided to a collection point using the downstream flow of water—a simple but effective method.
A straightforward solution is the Trash Trap, which is essentially a large net placed over drainage outlets to collect trash. In 2018, these were installed to prevent trash from entering the Heny Reserve, and in just four months, they caught 370 kilograms of trash. Once full, they can be easily removed via crane, allowing the litter to be sorted and recycled.
A high-tech solution for cigarette butts littering our beaches is the Beach Bot. This beach-cleaning robot identifies cigarette butts using artificial intelligence to detect and locate them for removal.
Satellites are also joining the effort to combat plastic pollution. They have been used to detect floating patches of macroplastics using visible and infrared light wavelengths to distinguish plastics from other materials. This data is collected to form a floating debris index for future collection.
Let me know in the comments any other projects you know about that are tackling the ocean waste problem. Don’t forget to check out TeamSeas.org to get involved and be part of this fantastic cause to raise $30 million to remove 30 million pounds of trash from our oceans.
Ocean – A large body of saltwater that covers most of the Earth’s surface and is vital for climate regulation and marine life. – The ocean plays a crucial role in regulating the Earth’s climate by absorbing carbon dioxide and heat.
Pollution – The introduction of harmful substances or products into the environment, causing adverse effects on nature and human health. – Pollution from factories can harm aquatic life in nearby rivers and streams.
Trash – Waste material or unwanted items that are discarded, often contributing to environmental pollution. – Volunteers collected trash from the park to prevent it from entering the local river.
Cleanup – The process of removing waste and pollutants from an area to restore it to a cleaner state. – The community organized a beach cleanup to remove litter and protect marine animals.
Robots – Machines capable of carrying out complex tasks, often used in environmental engineering to monitor and clean up ecosystems. – Engineers are developing robots that can detect and remove plastic waste from the ocean.
Rivers – Natural flowing watercourses that usually empty into an ocean, sea, or lake, and are important for ecosystems and human use. – The river provides water for irrigation and is home to many species of fish.
Litter – Pieces of trash that are improperly disposed of in the environment, often causing harm to wildlife and ecosystems. – Litter left on the ground can wash into waterways and harm aquatic life.
Plastics – Synthetic materials made from polymers that are widely used but can cause environmental harm if not disposed of properly. – Plastics take hundreds of years to decompose, making them a major pollutant in the ocean.
Beaches – Sandy or pebbly shores by the ocean, sea, or lake, often popular for recreation but vulnerable to pollution. – The beaches were covered in trash after the storm, prompting a community cleanup effort.
Engineering – The application of scientific and mathematical principles to design and build structures, machines, and systems, often used to solve environmental problems. – Environmental engineering focuses on developing technologies to reduce pollution and conserve resources.
