Plastic Soup

Back on Earth

It’s all so incredible: while there’s a sharp frost in the Netherlands, I am walking about in summery California in a little dress and flip-flops. As a result, everything starts looking brighter—even the problem of the plastic soup.

But this afternoon, I was brought back to Earth, during an interview with Dan Haifley (director of O’Neill Sea Odyssey). Or rather, I came crashing back to Earth.

It is not that the project is disappointing. On the contrary, my eyes filled with tears on seeing the short film on the way children sailing on Jack O’Neill’s catamaran were educated about life in the ocean and the role they play in preserving it.

No, it was what Dan told me—what I already knew—how complex the problem of the plastic soup is. Even if the money is there. Even if the boats are there. Even if the recycling installation is there. Even if the people are there. The soup is a soup. Literally. The plastic is spread throughout the water in minuscule particles. What we can filter out of the upper layer is maybe five percent of all the plastic.

As Dan formulated: “It’s a biological—a chemical problem—for which a solution does not yet exist.”

The Pacific Ocean consists of 170 million cubic miles of water. Each cubic mile weighs 151 million tons. Try to filter out the microscopic particles without damaging fish, reefs and other marine life …

But after our conversation, coming back outside, the sun was still shining and I thought: “Let’s start with that floating five percent anyway?” In any case, then we make sure that we don’t add anything to it.

Perhaps it’s just as well that I don’t all at once find the solution. Otherwise later, those scientists at A Convenient Truth are left without anything to do.

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