A mean, green, jetsam-chomping machine

[Greenheart]

Now, it's unlikely you'd thought of this, before cocktail hour (or magic mushroom hour?)...

I've heard that a huge swirling, floating mass of non-degrading waste plastic is circulating and expanding endlessly in the currents of the north Pacific. Thousands of miles across, a sort of sorry Sargasso.

Now, if we could build a ship, to a catamaran form...maybe 400' long, 100' wide (and hulls sixteen times longer than they are wide (25'), so minimal drive is required and a fair pace easily accomplished)...

...and then the football-pitch bridgedeck is carpeted with solar cells to fuel the propulsion and the trash-compactor...and this curious vessel just paddles along in circles for the next twenty or thirty years, gradually collecting and compacting several tonnes of trash each day, for transfer to landfill barges, or for sinking at sea, and the problem doesn't get too much worse?

Yeah, man. Sounds feasible. I like it. Hmm...

...I need a top-up.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Sounds great, but...

...it's in no country's waters, it's out of sight, no government cares.

 

[Greenheart]

Whatever's going on, here? Several earlier posts have disappeared. Somebody, call Mr Poirot!!

 

[nimbusgb]

Some very screwy problems with the web today, DNS seems to be completely haywire. Tracert to google, bbc and ybw come back with 'can't reach destination'

I made a reply post to this thread at 17:17 and it is still viewable if I search by all posts made. Funny though the other posts in this thread aren't!

 

[Greenheart]

Agreed, weird s**t going on. Though, I suspect the forum's guvnors found objection. No reason otherwise, why specific posts would appear then disappear without trace. I expect this'll disappear too, now!!

 

[ProDave]

And just which country is going to volunteer to collect this waste, and bring it back to their own, probably already over subscribed and dwindling landfil sites?

 

[Greenheart]

Dave, it was a joke. Only a joke.

Although, if you can find a way to make it pay...I want 15%!! All rights reserved. (I've NO idea, what that means.)

 

[westernman]

Most of it is plastic - it can be melted and recycled. And if really desperate burnt in a power station (with the appropriate filters). It is much too valuable to dump into a landfill.

Except maybe for Tuvalu.

 

[Greenheart]

Pardon me, Mr C...but what's Tuvalu?

And, has anyone else even heard of this slick of crud in the north Pacific? Has anyone thought of anything resembling a solution?

 

[Greenheart]

Ah!! I just thought!! Is Tuvalu a volcano? Makes sense!! I like it.

 

[westernman]

Tuvalu is an island nation (or maybe more than one island) in the South Pacific whose average height above sea level is about 6 inches and getting less.

They might be grateful for something to help raise that average height a bit to combat the effects of the ocean rising due to global warming.

More than half the nations GDP comes from renting out domain names which end in .tv (not that that is relevant).

Ooops: it should be spelt Tuvalu.

 

[Greenheart]

Odd thing... I originally replied, using the spelling Tuvalu. Then, I checked-back in and copied the error from the your original entry. Honest. Now, I'll go back for the third, most drunken and final time, to correct my erroneous corrections.