Cleanup Plan
“If you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you are right” - Henry Ford
The Environmental Cleanup Coalition’s Gyre Cleanup Project involves both cleanup and restoration of the Pacific Ocean, a body of water that covers 1/5 the surface of the Earth. The ECC plans to radically shift the state of the North Pacific Ocean, from an ecosystem sick with plastic debris, to a healthy body of water that is capable of feeding 10 times the world’s human population. ECC is dedicated to the prevention of marine pollution and advocates public education about the dangers of plastic in the watershed and the effectiveness of plastic alternatives and waste reduction. As we all begin to clean up our act on land, ECC will spearhead the ocean rescue mission by heading to the heart of the “garbage patch” to simply get the trash out and help native animals survive and flourish in a revitalized environment.
The Present Situation
Scientists have shown that the plastic debris accumulation in the ocean, concentrating in vortexes called gyres, is negatively impacting life on the planet. Birds, turtles and fish are dying from eating plastic. Toxins are collecting in and around plastic particles and are making their way up the food chain, eventually harming human health. There are land-based prevention measures being taken to prevent plastic from ending up in the ocean, a cause that everyone can participate in by being responsible for their own waste. However, there is currently no other large-scale cleanup mission underway. The ECC is pioneering the largest marine pollution cleanup and restoration project in history.
ECC Project Goals for 2009
Full Gyre Cleanup Project funding is the number one goal of the ECC for 2009. With this funding ECC will begin modifying a fleet of 20 to 30 ships between 300 and 600 feet in length. The modified ships will create a cleanup and restoration laboratory called Gyre Island. By 2010 Gyre Island will be fully managed and staffed with mechanical engineers and technicians, ocean scientists and food system engineers and the community to support their cleanup and restoration work.
The ships will be specially designed to drift net or otherwise pull trash out of the ocean, to filter ocean water of impurities and to process the salvaged plastic into useable products. Gyre Island will house a sea vegetable production farm where algae, seaweed and kelp are grown as a food crop, and a marine fish hatchery that will release 10,000 tuna into the Pacific Ocean.
Gyre Island will be created with sustainable design strategies and low environmental impact practices. Gyre Island will be a ground-breaking, self-sustaining, plastic recycling and marine life regeneration center in the North Pacific.