Trash Headed for Oceans Blocked by the Ocean Cleanup Project's 'Trash Interceptor 007' (msn.com) 36
Heavy rainfall "has left the Los Angeles' streets unusually clean," writes an editor at the Los Angeles Times.
"But I can't help wondering where it all went... Does it all end up in the ocean?" To answer that question, I turned to the experts at L.A. County Public Works, who oversee storm drains and waterways across the region. The good news is that there are a number of ways that trash is caught before it reaches the open sea. All manner of filters and screens and basins — and something called the Trash Interceptor 007 (I am not making this up) installed last fall at Ballona Creek — are employed to collect many thousands of tons of litter before they end up bobbing around the Pacific Ocean, releasing toxins and being mistaken for food by marine animals.
Trash Interceptor 007 is a sleek solar-powered boat from The Ocean Cleanup project. Last weekend it caught 11.6 tons of plastic, garbage and debris, and from October to January collected more than 42.5 tons of trash.
That's the good news, the Times notes... The bad news is that in storm conditions like we've just experienced, the trash busting systems get overwhelmed and some of the debris washed from the streets ends up on the beaches or in the ocean, along with the dog poop, oil and chemicals that slip through even the best filters. Ugh. All of this is to explain why the many efforts by cities, counties and the state to reduce trash, especially the nonbiodegradable plastic variety, are so important.
"But I can't help wondering where it all went... Does it all end up in the ocean?" To answer that question, I turned to the experts at L.A. County Public Works, who oversee storm drains and waterways across the region. The good news is that there are a number of ways that trash is caught before it reaches the open sea. All manner of filters and screens and basins — and something called the Trash Interceptor 007 (I am not making this up) installed last fall at Ballona Creek — are employed to collect many thousands of tons of litter before they end up bobbing around the Pacific Ocean, releasing toxins and being mistaken for food by marine animals.
Trash Interceptor 007 is a sleek solar-powered boat from The Ocean Cleanup project. Last weekend it caught 11.6 tons of plastic, garbage and debris, and from October to January collected more than 42.5 tons of trash.
That's the good news, the Times notes... The bad news is that in storm conditions like we've just experienced, the trash busting systems get overwhelmed and some of the debris washed from the streets ends up on the beaches or in the ocean, along with the dog poop, oil and chemicals that slip through even the best filters. Ugh. All of this is to explain why the many efforts by cities, counties and the state to reduce trash, especially the nonbiodegradable plastic variety, are so important.
and then it becomes little lisa slurry! (Score:3)
and then it becomes little lisa slurry!
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We should do the same, but on a larger scale
Re: Neat! (Score:2)
Going at this all wrong... (Score:1)
What is LA doing about that?
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Are you kidding? Our sewage system is a mess. Its 100+ years old in places and we've seen several sink holes over the past few years caused by pipes breaking because they cannot handle the pressure from all the water flowing through them. Clay pipes. Our drainage system has always been garbage, on top of that. Whenever there is heavy rains, there are sections of the city that are literally underwater.. and you want us to have a system in place to collect trash before it gets to the ocean? How about pe
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More than just the sewage system. California itself is by and large to blame for its own water problems, not climate change as their politicians claim.
https://angeles.sierraclub.org... [sierraclub.org]
TL;DR: California has to pump massive amounts of water from the Colorado river over mountains to feed Los Angeles because, after a century of both covering up the land with concrete and also encased the LA river in concrete (photo [wikipedia.org]), the (very large) underground aquifers are no longer being replenished by natural rainfall. Only
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Yes, they mentioned that in the first link I posted there. And it was already known to overflow periodically, as do many rivers. Or at least, it did, before this. But now one of the most populated areas of California has a chronic water shortage, and to make up for that they take it from somewhere else. And they'd rather continue doing that instead of fixing the problem
Re:Going at this all wrong... (Score:5, Interesting)
It should be vastly easier to prevent garbage from being released by the storm drainage system than to intercept it after it's already made its way into the ocean.
What is LA doing about that?
They are stopping it before it gets to the ocean. They’re just doing it at the tip of the funnel at Ballona Creek, rather than trying to convince everyone upstream from there to retrofit their sewer grates, curbs, inclines/grades, etc. to keep trash from reaching the creek.
While systems like these aren’t anywhere close to 100% effective, this, to me, is a cheap-ish and efficient means for removing a huge amount of trash, and they’re doing so at the point in the ecosystem where it can be done most effectively.
Don’t let whataboutism and perfect be the enemy of a decent solution. I’d love to see these boats get better and better while we work on solving the upstream problems you’re asking about.
Re:Going at this all wrong... (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, the magnitude of the problem is a function of rains exceeding what the system can filter out. They have to sacrifice collection efficacy with the need to minimize flooding risk by the added parts.
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Baltimore does this with googley eyes (Score:4, Informative)
Baltimore has done this for years. And it's much more appealing when you slap some googley eyes and a back story to each one!
https://www.mrtrashwheel.com/t... [mrtrashwheel.com]
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Came here to comment this. Mr Trash Wheel is the OG trash eating sentient barge
EEAAO (Score:2)
These googley eyes are going everything everywhere all at once! ;)
Not to be a debbie downer but ... (Score:3)
Last year alone it's estimated [condorferries.co.uk] that 14 MILLION TONS of plastic was dumped into the ocean. That's only plastic, but it makes up 80% of marine debris. So we would need 137,254 of these boats for all the marine waste dumped in a single year (someone please double check my math). And that doesn't account for the trash that's already in the ocean.
I just don't see how this possibly scales to even put a tiny dent in this problem. I appreciate that it is a very real problem and I genuinely wish we had a solution, but this surely isn't it, right?
Excellent link! (Score:2)
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Still, this beats glueing your hand to a painting "for awareness", or giving a pissy speech at the UN.
Sounds like you just figured out that Those that can...DO while those that can't...PREACH
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America is responsible for rather little of it. If you really wanted to stop trash from entering the ocean first you'd bomb the top 5 countries and 10 rivers that contribute almost half of the refuse, because there are cities that literally just use rivers going straight to the ocean as their landfill.
AFTER that, yes systems like this can help gross municipal run-off for coastal areas. States making up river basins should each be handling and screening their own outflow so that downstream doesn't have a gia
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America is responsible for rather little of it. If you really wanted to stop trash from entering the ocean first you'd bomb the top 5 countries and 10 rivers that contribute almost half of the refuse
Yes, but you can start at home where it's easy to do it AND gives you another argument to convince the others to follow - not just "look we're doing it as well" but also "look, it's actually working".
And, you know, every bit helps. Even if other countries pollute 10 or 100 times as much, there's no reason not to reduce our own pollution.
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I knew about the bikes...but appliances too? I thought only Russians did that.
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I honestly think they couldn't care less about actually having a bike. They just steal them to feed a drug habit. Honestly I wouldn't even worry about basic income, I'd just provide free heroine shots at the soup kitchens. There, then all of their basic wants are covered, and the rate of theft, burglary, and assault goes way down, and the democrats can finally have their dream of disbanding the police finally come true.
Well, not exactly, the sane cities will still have police.
Let's change the name a bit (Score:2)
Something like Trash Interceptor 5000 just sounds so much cooler. 007 just doesn't flow a well.
Alternate proposal: (Score:3)
Orr... How 'bout this.
STOP LITTERING.
California used to have a nice $2000 fine for littering on public highways. Let's have cities enforce that everywhere.
Can't hold it till you get to the can?
Too bad. Pay a fine.