RORY SINCLAIR OUTLINES SOME OF THE INITIATIVES BEHIND THE BIG BLUE OCEAN CLEANUP. THEY PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES, RESEARCH OCEAN POLLUTION FOR POLICY CHANGE AND SUPPORT THE USE OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
Big Blue Ocean Cleanup helps keep the oceans clean, protect marine wildlife and support the development of innovative technologies. They run free educational workshops and provide resources for schools around the world; inspiring every generation to take action and protect our blue planet. The non-profit also sends out free clean up equipment to anyone who requests it, and this is done on a global scale from their distribution network.
Coastal cleaning
Big Blue Ocean Cleanup’s ambassador network runs coastal cleanups all over the world. They support thousands of ambassadors with the free equipment needed to keep the places we love clean. The Big Blue Ocean Cleanup Coastal Cleanup program provides a fun and easy way to volunteer and engage with their mission to protect our oceans and marine wildlife. Volunteers of all ages, local community groups, visitors, clubs, local and corporate businesses around the world contribute to the success of the Coastal Cleaning Programme and are vital to keep our coastlines clean.
Technology development
Big Blue Ocean Cleanup’s goal with this is simple: we want to help the brightest minds on Earth secure the momentum and exposure they need to facilitate great change in the world. Every year, millions of tons of plastic and other pollutants enter the ocean. A significant percentage of this drifts into large systems of circulating ocean currents, known as gyres. These are a target zone of much global innovation, but we avoid tunnel vision with our offerings, and love to work with people working on a wide variety of projects, some of them not yet in mainstream knowledge.
Big Blue Ocean Cleanup support engineers who are designing ways to deal with pollution: ranging from plastics to chemical corruption and wider water pollutants in order to protect the hydrosphere. It is so close to their hearts and believe it is vital to take responsibility for it and support the billions of humans that depend on Earth’s water to support their lives every day.
Scientific research
The data collected is used by businesses, governments, universities and individuals to help stop ocean pollution. Plastic debris in the environment – a problem which is drawing more and more attention. One reason for this is that plastic will never really biologically degrade and disappear from our environment but become so called Microplastic. Microplastics are small particles ranging from 1μm to 5mm. Tons of those particles get into our natural waters and end up in our oceans.
Up to now it is not yet fully understood what physical and chemical impacts microplastic is having on any kind of living organisms. We use our nets for microplastic sampling and a tool to separate microplastic particles from sediment samples. This is based on the density separation method.
Current initiative -Our Boat The boat is a 41 foot ECO wind powered catamaran with solar panels. The boat will be MCA safety coded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) Small Commercial Vessel and Pilot Boat Code of Practice. The boat will be prepared and equipped to conform with the MCA Code MGN280.
How you can help
You can support us by purchasing a reward, making a donation or setting up a fundraising page. We must act together now, to prevent ocean pollution and protect the marine wildlife that we love. Please share our page with your friends and family who also care about protecting our blue planet.
