A Bubbly Solution to the Plastic Floods
The Great Bubble Barrier is on a mission to save us from the floods of plastic that are generated in cities and flowing into the oceans.
Waste manages to get into water quite easily. Marine life gets caught in or ingests waste such as plastics every day. The number of turtles and whales dying on beaches has increased drastically because of this. The Amsterdam-based startup The Great Bubble Barrier wants to restore the marine environments that humankind has depleted.
Their solution involves creating a bubble barrier that can span canals, rivers, and streams. By creating a diagonal bubble barrier, waste is redirected into bins on the side of the water body for collection and prevention of waste reaching oceans. This mechanism affects neither fish nor ships passing through the barrier. A pilot has been launched in a canal near Amsterdam’s Central Station and will catch waste 24/7 from 2019 to 2021.
The Great Bubble Barrier is an innovative and visible technology that brings to surface the wasteful nature of city dwellers. Projects such as this one create a sense of urgency that should incentivize governments, corporations, and citizens alike to act on waste generation.
