Boyan Slat is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, through which he oversees strategy and technology development. 20 year-old Boyan Slat combines technology, entrepreneurism and environmentalism to undertake global issues of sustainability. Coming across more plastic bags than fish, while diving in Greece he wondered; "why can't we clean this up?" Ultimately, this led to the introduction of the passive cleanup concept, which he presented in 2012. Instead of going after the plastic, Boyan Slat devised a system that's driven by the ocean currents, the plastic would concentrate itself, reducing the theoretical cleanup time from millennia to mere years.

How the oceans can clean themselves: Boyan Slat at TEDxDelft

Do you or anyone you know own a ocean going vessel?

If so, please get in touch with The Ocean Cleanup here: http://www.theoceancleanup.com/the-technology/mega-expedition/ This August, up to 50 vessels will sail the Great Pacific Garbage patch, in what will be the largest ocean research expedition in history. They will sail from Hawaii to Los Angeles, and the expedition will cover 3,500,000 km2. They will be collecting more plastic measurements in three weeks than what has been collected in the past 40 years combined. AS A SKIPPER OR VESSEL OWNER YOU TOO CAN BECOME PART OF THIS HISTORIC EVENT, BY JOINING THEM IN CROSSING THE OCEAN IN AUGUST THIS YEAR - FROM HAWAII TO CALIFORNIA! WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN: 1. YOUR CONTRIBUTION WILL HELP RID THE OCEANS OF PLASTIC 2. YOU WILL GET TO VISIT THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH YOURSELF 3. A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE COSTS WILL BE COVERED BY THE OCEAN CLEANUP 4. THROUGH ITS GLOBAL COVERAGE, YOUR CONTRIBUTION WILL BE INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED 5. THE OCEAN CLEANUP TAKES CARE OF ALL EQUIPMENT, LOGISTICS, AND WILL EVEN ARRANGE A VOLUNTEER TO DO THE MEASUREMENTS Boyan Slat has been recognized as one of the 20 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs Worldwide (Intel EYE50), and is a laureate of the 2014 United Nations Champions of the Earth award, the organization's highest environmental accolade. Sources: http://www.theoceancleanup.com/the-technology/mega-expedition/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyan_Slat