B2
THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, OcTObER 5, 2019
The Ocean Cleanup
Plastic is retained in front of an extended cork line in the Pacific Ocean. A Dutch inventor says that after a series of setbacks his system for catching plastic floating in the Pacific between
California and Hawaii is now working.
Pacific plastic-cleaning boom is back to work
By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — After
a series of setbacks, a system for catching
plastic floating in the Pacific between Cali-
fornia and Hawaii is now working, its Dutch
inventor said Wednesday.
Boyan Slat, a university dropout who
founded The Ocean Cleanup nonprofit,
announced that the floating boom is skim-
ming up waste ranging in size from a dis-
carded net and a car wheel complete with
tire to chips of plastic measuring just 1
millimeter.
The results are promising enough to
begin designing a second system to send to
the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area of
floating plastic trash twice the size of Texas,
Slat said.
But he sounded a note of caution, saying
“if the journey to this point taught us any-
thing it is that it’s definitely not going to be
easy.”
The floating boom with a tapered 10-foot-
deep screen is intended to act like a coast-
line, trapping some of the 1.8 trillion pieces
of plastic that scientists estimate are swirl-
ing in the patch while allowing marine life
to safely swim beneath it.
After it was towed out to sea last year,
the barrier did not catch any trash in its first
weeks of operation because it was moving at
the same speed as the plastic. That problem
was overcome by using an underwater para-
chute anchor to slow the boom so it catches
quicker moving trash.
Also, late last year, the barrier broke
under the constant pummeling by wind and
waves in the Pacific, requiring four months
of repairs before being relaunched from
Vancouver in June.
The system also experienced a problem
with “overtopping” _ waves that pushed the
plastic over the line of floating corks that
hold the screen. That was solved by using a
line of larger corks to corral the plastic.
The organization wants to continue
developing the plastic traps, scale them up
and deploy more to the Pacific so they can
gather thousands of tons of plastic each year.
However, Slat did not say when the second
The Ocean Cleanup
Crew members sort through plastic on board a support vessel on the Pacific Ocean.
version would be ready for launch.
Slat’s organization is one of a handful
of groups working to collect trash from the
open oceans.
There is more than enough to keep them
busy.
It is estimated that between 600,000 and
800,000 metric tons of fishing gear is aban-
doned or lost during storms each year in the
oceans, according to the Trash Free Seas
Program at Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit
environmental advocacy group.
Another 9 million tons of plastic waste,
including plastic bottles, bags, toys and
other items, flow annually into the ocean
from beaches, rivers and creeks, according
to experts.
Slat said the next move is to scale up the
device and make it stronger, so it can stay at
sea for longer and hold onto all the plastic it
collects for a year or more before a ship col-
lects the trash.
Summarizing, he said: “There’s a lot of
work still ahead of us.”
Would you choose to let a server pick what you will be eating?
Dear Annie: For a long time now, my in my home paper, The Bartlett Express, a
wife has had a habit of making our server few years ago. It was shared online thou-
choose what side dishes she is going to sands of times. It would mean a great deal
to me if you were to print it. Maybe,
have. If there is a choice of wed-
ding soup or creamy chicken and
just maybe, it will prevent a teen-
DEAR
ager
from trying the deadly drug
potato or broccoli or peas, my wife
ANNIE
that first time. — Tennessee Papa
will often say to the server, “Sur-
prise me.” I think this puts pressure
Hello, young person.
on the server. What if my wife does
My name is Heroin.
not like the choice that someone
It is so good to meet you for the
else made for her? — Puzzled in PA
first time. And I just know we are
Dear Puzzled in PA: At upscale
going to be the best of friends.
restaurants, it’s not uncommon to
Go ahead: Try me. don’t pay
let the chef select your meal. At ANNIE LANE any attention to what your parents
Creators
chain restaurants and more casual
and society have been telling you
Syndicate Inc.
places, I can see how this ques-
your whole life about me.
tion might put unfair pressure on
I promise you will LOVE me!
employees. However, I’d be curious to
I will take you by the hand and take you
hear from servers on this topic.
to places of warmth and happiness and joy
Dear Annie: I’m raising my two grand- the likes of which you’ve never dreamed.
children, ages 6 and 5. My wife and I have
I guarantee you, we will become
court-ordered custody of them. Our daugh- inseparable!
ter, their mother, is a heroin addict and,
Because while I have you by the hand, I
like most heroin addicts, seems completely will also take you by the throat in a vice-
helpless to the drug’s powerful hold. I like grip that will make it hard for you to
wrote the following poem that appeared breathe. Everything in your life that used
to be so important will pale in comparison
to the relationship you and I will have.
I will own you.
You will do whatever it takes to keep me
around.
You will lose job after job. But I’m
expensive, so you will steal from your
friends and family. You will find creative
ways to pay for me because what used to
be enough of me will soon not be nearly
enough.
Unless you’re incredibly lucky, you’ll
spend time in jail because of me. But I’m
worth it. I must be because you’ll return
to me at the first possible moment you’re
able.
Because now you’re weak, and I’m
incredibly strong.
Don’t have kids because you’ll ignore
them. And neglect them. And eventually
lose them.
because I’m more important than even
them.
Rehab? Forget about it.
Oh, you’ll try. Several times. but only
a precious few are able to cut ties with me
permanently.
you’ll discover that you hate me.
There’s really only one way that I’ll
release my hold on you.
When years of addiction finally take
their toll. When life with me is no lon-
ger worth living. When either disease or
desperation reach that final inevitable
conclusion.
When my grip finally chokes the very
life out of you.
When your heart stops, I’ll stop.
And then you’ll be gone.
But I’ll still be around. Looking. Always
looking.
For that next victim.
Ah, there’s one.
Hello, young person.
My name is Heroin.
Dear Tennessee Papa: I am happy to
print your poem, though sorry that this
message needs to be shared. For anyone
struggling with addiction, call the Sub-
stance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration’s 24/7 national helpline at
1-800-662-4357.