![]() ![]() NYU’s Center for the Humanities provided funding to solicit relevant works in progress, run a teaching workshop, and help crystallize a community around the topic. Now Nagle, who teaches anthropology and environmental studies, is extending her decades-long interest in refuse and giving it a 21st-century spin. The curriculum committee recognized the value in the rich subject matter, and soon there were courses like Discard Studies: Exploring the Abject, Discarded, and Disposable Oral History, Labors of Waste and the Value of Knowledge and Waste, Water, and the Urban Environment. But Nagle brought to it a more anthropological approach when she taught a graduate seminar in 1995 titled Garbage in Gotham: The Anthropology of Trash. The serious study of waste is nothing new. But can anything tell us more about who we are than the waste we produce, what happens postconsumption, and how and where we discard or store what’s left behind? That we leave things behind to begin with? How we’re so often willing to pretend that our garbage is not really of us?ĭ launched a decade ago: a thoughtful, trailblazing, important look at “how we generate waste, what qualifies as waste, how it’s managed, what its environmental consequences are,” says NYU Liberal Studies clinical professor Robin Nagle, cofounder of the blog, as well as anthropologist-in-residence for the New York City Department of Sanitation and a person endlessly fascinated by garbage. Taking on such an ambitious challenge and solving problems nobody has ever solved before requires a fast and iterative approach – so we keep learning and improving every day.To understand our history and ourselves, we tend to look to architecture, art, literature, film, fashion, poetry and documents, tools and machines, and even coins and stamps. This meant we had successfully met the following criteria: limited negative environmental impact, no safety issues during operation, and of course, repeatedly harvesting large amounts of plastic. We decided to move to an active cleanup approach, and after some prototyping and field testing, we received proof of technology in 2021. However, the catch amount was low, and our calculations showed it would take too long to clean up the GPGP using that original design. The technology has come a long way since his first sketch from a V-shaped array anchored to the seabed, to variations of a free-floating passive system, to our current active cleanup approach. The idea to clean the garbage patches started with Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, in 2012. The winter season in the North Pacific is often accompanied by stormy seas In the case of a particularly severe storm, the system can be temporarily withdrawn from operation. We track the latest weather forecasts to plan our route to avoid storms and to identify areas where cleaning conditions are most optimal. We closely monitor the loads on the system, and we adapt the speed and span during rough seas. SURVIVING STORMSĪs the cleanup systems must remain in the GPGP for long periods (sometimes under extremely harsh conditions), it is crucial that our systems can withstand ocean forces. ![]() For more about our approach to topics like these, see our Environment page. We are also committed to offsetting all carbon emissions associated with the System 03 operations. The data also helps improve the global understanding of the ecosystem in the GPGP. You can also read more about our environmental protection measures in greater detail in this update.įurthermore, System 03 provides a unique platform for scientific research investigating the sources, fate, and impacts of plastic pollution in the open ocean. In the gallery below, you can learn more about how we keep marine wildlife safe during our cleaning operations. Monitoring data has confirmed that our operations are having only minimal effects on the environment. We also have trained independent observers on board the vessels each trip to monitor any interactions with protected species (such as turtles or whales) in the area. System 03, our current ocean cleaning technology, has deterrents, cameras, escape aids, and other features to minimize risk to marine wildlife. Since our operations began, we have conducted continuous research in the laboratory and the field, aiming to optimize our positive impact consistently. Our mission is intended to benefit the ocean and its inhabitants, so we place protection of the marine environment and mitigation of any negative impact of our operations at the forefront of our ocean cleaning operations. We aim to rid the oceans of plastic in the most responsible way possible. ![]()
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