Electrolux Vac From The Sea

Electrolux is going to create vacuum cleaners from plastic harvested from polluted oceans. The company just launched its "Vac from the sea" initiative to get plastic waste out of the world's oceans and into home appliances made of recycled plastic. There are plastic islands, some several times the size of the state of Texas, floating in the world's oceans. Yet on land, stocks of recycled plastic are much too small to feed production of sustainable plastic products. Electrolux intends to gather plastic from the oceans and turn it into a number of vacuum cleaners.

Collected from: Electrolux Vac From The Sea | Appliancist

Vac from the Sea - Electrolux collects plastic from the oceans

Collected from: YouTube - Vac from the Sea - Electrolux collects plastic from the oceans

Electrolux to create vacuum cleaners from plastic harvested from polluted oceans

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The aim is twofold:  to bring attention to the issue of plastic pollution and to raise awareness on the scarcity of recycled plastics needed for making sustainable home appliances.

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 The plan is to make a limited number of vacuum cleaners from plastic debris harvested from the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean, Baltic and North Seas. The techniques for harvesting the plastic will vary depending on the location – from diving after it to scooping it up from the waves. “We will work with volunteers and experts that live close or work with this problem,” says Nord.

Collected from: Electrolux to create vacuum cleaners from plastic harvested from polluted oceans | Electrolux Newsroom

What is the Pacific Garbage Patch?

What is the Pacific Garbage Patch? Simply put, it's a swirling mass of plastic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that is big enough to qualify as the planet's largest landfill. That's a huge amount of marine litter, and a huge problem. Learn everything about the Pacific Garbage Patch, from its impact on ocean life, to how that plastic is ending up back on our dinner plates, to what our options are for fixing the problem over on Planet Green.

Collected from: What is the Pacific Garbage Patch?

Charles Moore: Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Collected from: YouTube - Charles Moore: Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Sources

Electrolux Vac From The Sea | Appliancist
http://www.appliancist.com/appliance_trends_2010/electrolux-vac-from-the-sea.html
YouTube - Vac from the Sea - Electrolux collects plastic from the oceans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIlWzZo0fvo&feature=player_embedded
Electrolux to create vacuum cleaners from plastic harvested from polluted oceans | Electrolux Newsroom
http://newsroom.electrolux.com/2010/06/29/electrolux-to-create-vacuum-cleaners-from-plastic-harvested-from-polluted-oceans/
What is the Pacific Garbage Patch?
http://www.electrolux.se/Innovation/Campaigns/Vac-from-the-sea/Making-the-Vacs/
YouTube - Charles Moore: Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrAShtolieg&feature=player_embedded#!

Related

YouTube - World biggest garbage dump - plastic in the Ocean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNqzAHGXvs&feature=player_embedded
YouTube - Charles Moore: Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrAShtolieg&feature=player_embedded#!
Vac from the Sea
http://www.electrolux.se/Innovation/Campaigns/Vac-from-the-sea/
Electrolux Wants to Turn Ocean Plastic Trash Into Vacuum Cleaners | Gear Diary
http://www.geardiary.com/2010/06/25/electrolux-wants-to-turn-ocean-plastic-trash-into-vacuum-cleaners/
Electrolux Turning Plastic From the Ocean Into Vacuum Cleaners | Fast Company
http://www.fastcompany.com/1663579/electrolux-turning-plastic-from-the-ocean-into-vacuum-cleaners
UnderwaterTimes | Electrolux Launches 'Vac From The Sea' Initiative To Turn Plastic Islands Into Vacuum Cleaners
http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=35611040792

Oceans Are Dying

As a result of pollution and overfishing some of the advanced forms of ocean life are struggling to survive while the most primitive are thriving and spreading: algae, bacteria and jellyfish are growing unchecked. This 'rise of slime' is killing larger species and sickening people.

Clipped from: Our Oceans Are Dying and We're At Fault : TreeHugger

The Los Angeles Times report this morning on the state of the oceans sounds like something out of a horror movie - fishermen come in contact with a spongy weed, only to break out into a painful rash that won't go away and literally peels your skin off. Get a drop in your mouth and your tongue swells so much you can't eat for a week. Scientists in labs can't be in the same room with it, the smell is so pungent. Only the problem is that this is for real and happening more and more often in coastal areas around the world. We are putting too much food into the oceans, scientists say, and now the oceans are reverting back to primeval seas of millions and even billions of years ago."

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Clipped from: A Primeval Tide of Toxins - Los Angeles Times: "California | Local

A Primeval Tide of Toxins

Runoff from modern life is feeding an explosion of primitive organisms. This 'rise of slime,' as one scientist calls it, is killing larger species and sickening people.


MORETON BAY, AUSTRALIA -- The fireweed began each spring as tufts of hairy growth and spread across the seafloor fast enough to cover a football field in an hour.

When fishermen touched it, their skin broke out in searing welts. Their lips blistered and peeled. Their eyes burned and swelled shut. Water that splashed from their nets spread the inflammation to their legs and torsos.

'It comes up like little boils,' said Randolph Van Dyk, a fisherman whose powerful legs are pocked with scars. 'At nighttime, you can feel them burning. I tried everything to get rid of them. Nothing worked.'"

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Clipped from: Ocean “Dead Zones” Increasing: 400 Oxygen-Deprived Areas Now Exist : TreeHugger

Dead Zones Have Doubled Every 10 Years Since 1960s

According to the study, the number of marine dead zones—areas which are periodically or permanently starved of oxygen—has doubled every 10 years since the 1960s, with those along coastlines increasing in size and intensity. Currently there are about 400 coastal areas, with a combined area larger than the size of Oregon, with such poor water quality, with so little oxygen that only microbes can survive in it. Fish and crustaceans must flee the area or die.

marine dead zones map image
Map showing partial number of current marine dead zones: Dr Robert Diaz/NASA"

Related:
Our Oceans Are Dying and We're At Fault : TreeHugger
A Primeval Tide of Toxins - Los Angeles Times
Ocean “Dead Zones” Increasing: 400 Oxygen-Deprived Areas Now Exist : TreeHugger
:: :: SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, UC SAN DIEGO :: ::
:: CENTER FOR MARINE BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION : SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, UC SAN DIEGO ::

Map of Ocean Damage

Almost half the world's oceans have been damaged by human activity, says a new study by a team of researchers who mapped the severity of the effects.

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com Study Finds Humans' Effect on Oceans Comprehensive Human activities are affecting every square mile of the world's oceans, according to a study by a team of American, British and Canadian researchers who mapped the severity of the effects from pole to pole. clipped from www.npr.org A new map reveals ocean areas most damaged by human activities. "These are the most impacted ocean areas on the planet," Halpern says. "It's where the combination of human activities, from shipping to fishing to land-based pollution, are coming together to make things really bad." clipped from www.universetoday.com "Whether one is interested in protecting ocean wilderness, assessing which human activities have the greatest impact, or prioritizing which ecosystem types need management intervention, our results provide a strong framework for doing so." - Kimberly Selkoe of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) in Santa Barbara, CA and the University of Hawaii.