There is lots of garbage (垃圾) in the Pacific Ocean around the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), which is located halfway between Japan and California (加利福尼亚州). However, how can this be cleaned up in such a big ocean?

A man named Boyan Slat took a swimming trip to Greece (希腊) when he was 16. The young man was shocked to see more plastic waste than fish in the ocean and decided to do something about it. That’s how the Ocean Cleanup got its start in 2013.

Slat’s group cleans up the GPGP using a floating (浮动的) plastic tube (管). The tube will go around the garbage and catch it. The plastic tube is 600 meters long. A big screen hangs down from it, about three meters into the water. Wind and waves will push the garbage towards the tube (fish can swim under the screen). Ships will pick up the garbage and take it back to the land to sort (分类) and reuse it.

The GPGP has about 1. 8 trillion (万亿) pieces of garbage. Most of it is plastic, like bottles and bags. Plastic garbage is very bad for birds and fish. They may get trapped or eat the plastic waste and then become sick or even die. Smaller plastic pieces can also enter our body through the seafood.

The Ocean Cleanup says it will be able to clean up half of the garbage in the GPGP within five years. If this first project works well, the Ocean Cleanup hopes to put as many as 60 more plastic tubes in the ocean. About 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year. The purpose of the organization is to clean out 90 percent of the ocean plastic by 2040.

Trash (垃圾) for Toilet Use

In recent years, tourism has developed rapidly in West China. This has led to a huge increase in trash. Most of it has been left behind by tourists. In 2021, photos of plastic waste along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (青藏公路) were shared online. This made local people worried about the local environment.

Local governments (当地政府) and nonprofits (非营利组织) have tried many different ways to deal with this problem. One project uses a new idea: trash for toilet use. The project sets up special restrooms in scenic areas. There’s one such restroom on Mount Zheduo (折多山).To use it, visitors must throw an empty plastic bottle into an intelligent box. The box will then give them a “green coin.” They can use the green coin to unlock the door of the restroom.

The project began last November. “Tens of thousands of visitors have taken part in it,” the nonprofit Green River said in a post on Weibo. “Millions of pieces of trash have been collected.” For some visitors, however, the project is confusing. One of them shared his experience on social media. “It’s a good idea,” he said. “But it’s impossible for visitors to always have an empty bottle on hand.” What do you think of this project?