Project Kaisei - google

Here’s something google just posted to youtube focused on some of the stuff we’re doing.  Not surfboards, but ocean (and therefore all life) related.  

 

I hate litter and it's disturbing to see it floating around in the middle of the ocean.  One thing stated in this little clip is fish eat plastic, we eat fish, consequently what?  Fish eat plastic?  In general,no.  I would bet the little fish shown in the clip feed on plankton, not plastic.  It's a weak conclusion in my opinion and would have to have the dots connected a little better to buy into it. The open ocean gyres are nutrient poor areas with long food chains, low bio mass, and relatively high biodiversity. Makes beautiful water, though, doesn't it?  Mike

Not true Mike.  

That was me stating that.  Plastic was present in everything they (Project Kaisei and Scripps Institution of Oceanography) tested, including chemicals from plastic in the plankton.  It’s not just big visible chunks… there are countless micro-particles too.  The dots ARE connected.  That’s part of what this project is about - http://projectkaisei.org/ - identifying the problem and coming up with solutions to correct it.  

Here’s what Jean Michel Cousteau has to say about it - http://www.oceanfutures.org/of_blog-post.asp?ID=100

The scientists that went out there thought they’d find plastic trash… they didn’t think they’d find as much as they did.  Some of them actually broke down and cried when they saw how bad it really is.  We’re talking a polluted soup TWICE THE SIZE OF TEXAS. 

 

 

I have been trying all natural - Its difficult to avoid epoxy resin for my recent wood builds, been turning down friends and customers who are looking for lightweight foamies. Why? because someone else cant stop putting trash where it doesn’t belong?? Who is making the trash? Stuff it, Id rather be surfing, later… Look at the crowd on one little peak? Those boards are all made of plastic, aaggghhh.

Do you think the situation will get better or worse?

I’ll still be trying natural

Surfboards are not really “eco-friendly”.  On the plus side, compared to other plastic trash, they are just a tiny drop in the bucket… and when you’re in the water surfing, your carbon footprint isn’t that big.  Surfers tend to be a bit more aware of trash in the ocean, since we’re constantly in it.  

The North Pacific Gyre is made up of all kinds of trash… kind of a plastic soup.  Trash that makes it’s way into the ocean… from wherever… gets caught in the ocean’s current and ends up in the middle of this huge vortex.  The variety of trash surprised the crews on the New Horizon and Kaisei.  It’s not just plastic bottles like some imagined before the trip, but all kinds of junk.  The plastics take longer to break down, so it’s the most prevalent.  There are big nylon drift nets, toys, bottles, broken down containers, parts of plastic bags, and even plastic “pearls” used for injection molding.  

I think awareness will improve the situation.  We just need to realize that we’ve created this problem, and we can fix it.  The main solution is to dispose of our trash responsibly.  A great model of how to deal with trash is the dump in Marin County, north of San Francisco.  They are one of two profitable dumps in the country.  They filter everything.  They recycle plastics, glass, metal, etc.  They separate building materials and sell them back to contractors - who can even rent space and connex containers on site.  Some of the garbage gets fed to pigs and goats - also on site - that then get sold off as well.  They end up with very little actual “trash”.  

There’s a company that’s involved with Project Kaisei that says they can take the “soup” and convert it to diesel fuel… possibly on site in the middle of the ocean.  Finding monetary value in the trash may help get companies to respond and help clean it up.  They can look like (and be) good global citizens and make a profit at the same time.

I’m not pretending to be an eco-crusader.  I just helped create the technology that got the word out.  George Orbelian, who’s a friend and our first angel investor (and author of Essential Surfing, and the soon to come Brewer book), started Project Kaisei with Doug Woodring, Mary Crowley, the Ocean Voyages Institute, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and a host of others.  They’re the drivers of this project.  My company - Ojingo Labs - created the technology to bring the project into people’s living rooms.  We worked with Google to combine our technology with Google Earth.  They liked what we did enough to make and promote this video.  It just went up two days ago.  I think they did a great job.  We didn’t seem nearly that interesting when they were shooting us :wink: