cleaning

Keeping Trash Out Of The Ocean | Earth Wise

February 23, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organization, founded in 2013 by Dutch inventor Boyan Slat, to develop and scale technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. It is an organization that proudly declares that its primary aim is to put itself out of business by successfully cleaning up the oceans.

A major activity of The Ocean Cleanup is efforts to clean the ocean garbage patches that have accumulated in several places, best-known of which is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The effort involves use of large U-shaped floating barriers that act as an artificial coastline to trap garbage which is then funneled into a barge for disposal. Ten full-sized systems will be needed to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

A second activity of The Ocean Cleanup is preventing garbage in rivers from making its way into the oceans. Rivers are the main source of ocean plastic pollution. The Ocean Cleanup has developed river machines called Interceptors that capture garbage for disposal. Last fall, they installed a machine called Interceptor 007 in Ballona Creek, a waterway in the Los Angeles area. In the first rainfall after installation, the Interceptor managed to stop 35,000 pounds of waste from entering the ocean in just a few days.

The original Interceptor models have been deployed in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Dominican Republic, and Vietnam. A different type called the Interceptor Trashfence is being tested in Guatemala.

The Ocean Cleanup states that if fleets of its barrier systems are installed in all the garbage patches and Interceptors in the 1000 most significant rivers, 90% of floating ocean plastic can be removed by 2040.

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The Interceptor 007 Stops 35,000 Pounds Of Trash From Entering Ocean

The Ocean Cleanup

Photo, posted February 23, 2015, courtesy of Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Cleaning Up Urban Rivers With Nature’s Tools | Earth Wise

October 7, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Fifty years after the passage of the Clean Water Act, urban waterways across the United States are continuing their comeback and are showing increasing signs of life. A strategy that is being adopted in many places is to use natural restoration techniques focused on bolstering plants and wildlife to improve water quality.

A nonprofit called the Upstream Alliance has focused on public access, clean water, and coastal resilience in the Delaware, Hudson, and Chesapeake watersheds. Working with the Center for Aquatic Sciences and with support from the EPA and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the alliance has been repopulating areas of an estuary of the Delaware River near Camden, New Jersey with wild celery grass, which is a plant vital to freshwater ecosystems.

In many places, scientists, nonprofits, academic institutions, and state agencies are focusing on organisms like bivalves (typically oysters and mussels) along with aquatic plants to help nature restore fragile ecosystems, improve water quality, and increase resilience.

Bivalves and aquatic vegetation improve water clarity by grounding suspended particles, which allows more light to penetrate. These organisms also cycle nutrients both by absorbing them as food and by making them more available to other organisms.

Underwater restoration projects have been underway in New York Harbor for more than a decade, where the Billion Oyster Project has engaged 10,000 volunteers and 6,000 students.

The hope is that bringing back bivalves and aquatic plants can create a lasting foundation for entire ecosystems. It is restoring nature’s ability to keep itself clean.

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How Using Nature’s Tools Is Helping to Clean Up Urban Rivers

Photo, posted December 19, 2019, courtesy of Scott via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Cleaning Up Forever Chemicals | Earth Wise

August 29, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

PFAS, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are chemical pollutants that threaten human health and ecosystem sustainability. They are used in a wide range of applications including food wrappers and packaging, dental floss, firefighting foam, nonstick cookware, textiles, and electronics. Over decades, these manufactured chemicals have leached into our soil, air, and water. Chemical bonds in PFAS molecules are some of the strongest known, so the substances do not degrade easily in the environment.

Studies have shown that at certain levels, PFAS chemicals can be harmful to humans and wildlife and have been associated with a wide variety of health problems.

Currently, the primary way to dispose of PFAS chemicals is to burn them, which is an expensive multistep process. Even trace levels are toxic, so when they occur in water in low amounts, they need to be concentrated in order to be destroyed.

Researchers at Texas A&M University have developed a novel bioremediation technology for cleaning up PFAS. It uses a plant-derived material to absorb the PFAS which is then eliminated by microbial fungi that literally eat the forever chemicals.

The sustainable plant material serves as a framework to adsorb the PFAS. That material containing the adsorbed PFAS serves as food for the fungus. Once the fungus has eaten it, the PFAS is gone.

The EPA has established a nationwide program to monitor the occurrence and levels of PFAS in public water systems and is considering adding PFAS threshold levels to drinking water standards. If this happens, the technology developed at Texas A&M may become an essential part of municipal water systems.

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Texas A&M AgriLife develops new bioremediation material to clean up ‘forever chemicals’

Photo, posted August 10, 2013, courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Cleaning Up Abandoned Wells | Earth Wise

March 3, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There are 130,000 documented abandoned oil and gas wells in the US, according to the Department of the Interior. The key word is documented. According to an EPA study in 2018, the actual number of abandoned wells could be as high as two or three million. According to an analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund and McGill University, about nine million people in the United States live within a mile of one of these wells.

Some of these wells might be fairly harmless, and others might be quite dangerous. Wells can emit a variety of gasses, including methane, which is a far stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Leaking wells are a major source of air and groundwater pollution. Apart from methane, substances such as arsenic can continue to leak from wells even after they are no longer operational.

At the end of January, the Biden Administration announced a series of new actions to tackle methane pollution. Among these measures is $1.15 billion in funds from the Department of the Interior that states can use to seal up abandoned oil and gas wells. That funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in November, which sets aside $4.7 billion for a federal program dedicated to orphaned wells.

Addressing the largely ignored problem of abandoned wells is important from the standpoint of climate pollution as well as human health. Efforts to plug the wells will also provide high-paying jobs

Other methane-reduction measures include increased enforcement from the Department of Transportation on reducing pipelines leaks, research funding for limiting methane emissions from beef and dairy farming, and technical assistance from the Department of Energy on well-plugging efforts.

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Photo, posted March 23, 2011, courtesy of David Stone via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Understanding How To Enhance Desalination | Earth Wise

February 16, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Desalination is the process of removing mineral components – notably salt – from saline water, generally seawater. Over 16,000 desalination plants operate across 177 countries, generating 25 billion gallons of fresh water each year. Currently, desalination accounts for about 1% of the world’s drinking water.

The leading process for desalination in terms of installed capacity as well as new installations is reverse osmosis that makes use of a thin-film composite membrane based on ultra-thin polyamide.

Despite the fact that these membranes are widely used for desalination, they are actually rather poorly understood. It has not been known exactly how water moves through them. As a result, much of the progress made on the technology over the decades has been essentially based on guesswork.

A team of researchers at the University of Texas, Austin has used advanced microscopy techniques to solve some of the mysteries of reverse osmosis membranes. By mapping membranes at very high resolution – less than half the diameter of a DNA strand – they gained a much better understanding of what makes a membrane better at reverse osmosis.

They found that desalination membranes are inconsistent in mass distribution and density and that these inconsistencies can impair membrane performance. It turns out that inconsistencies and dead zones in membranes play a bigger role than membrane thickness. By making the membranes more uniform in density at the nanoscale, they were able to increase desalination efficiency 30 to 40 percent, therefore cleaning more water with less energy and at lower cost.

Producing fresh water is not just essential for public health, it is also crucial for use in agriculture and energy production.

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Nanoscale control of internal inhomogeneity enhances water transport in desalination membranes

Photo, posted February 13, 2017, courtesy of Jacob Vanderheyden via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Making Use Of Invasive Seaweed | Earth Wise

June 26, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In recent years, millions of tons of brown Sargassum seaweed have formed gigantic blooms stretching all the way across the Atlantic Ocean from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico. The seaweed has become a problem for shorelines in the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the east coast of Florida. The massive increase in seaweed populations is related to changes in ocean chemistry resulting from nutrients from fertilizer use entering the water as well as from changes to the climate affecting ocean currents and temperatures. The seaweed is harming the tourism industry as well as fisheries and ocean ecosystems.

Cleaning up the seaweed that washes ashore is labor-intensive and therefore expensive. A research team led by two British universities has developed a cheap and simple way to pre-process seaweed to facilitate making it into bulk chemicals and biofuels. With the new process, cleaning up the seaweed can be both economically and environmentally viable.

Previous techniques for processing seaweed generally required removing it from the saltwater, washing it in fresh water, and drying it – all of which add significant costs. The new technique makes use of catalysts to release sugars from untreated seaweed that feed a yeast to produce a palm oil substitute. At the same time, the process creates heat and pressure, turning the residual materials into a bio-oil that can be processed further into fuels, and a high-quality, low-cost fertilizer.

Apart from getting economic value out of the seaweed that is collected, any plastic collected alongside the seaweed can be converted to useful materials as well.

It appears that the seaweed scourge is here to stay, so finding an economically viable way to deal with it is a welcome development.

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Solve invasive seaweed problem by turning it into biofuels and fertilisers

Photo, posted August 10, 2015, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Reducing Air Pollution With Plants | Earth Wise

January 15, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

New research by Ohio State University suggests that adding plants and trees to the landscapes near factories and other pollution sources could reduce air pollution by an average of 27%. In addition, the study indicates that, in many cases, plants may be a cheaper option for cleaning the air than more technological approaches.

The study looked at public data on air pollution and vegetation on a county-by-county basis across the lower 48 states. It then calculated what adding additional trees and plants might cost. The calculations included the capacity of current vegetation to mitigate air pollution as well as the effects that restorative planting might have on pollution levels.

In 75% of the counties analyzed, it was cheaper to use plants to mitigate air pollution rather than add technological interventions such as smokestack scrubbers to the sources of pollution. The results varied according to the pollution source. For example, technology is cheaper at cleaning the air near industrial boilers than ecosystem approaches. For the broad manufacturing industry, one approach or the other was favorable, depending on the type of factory.

Adding trees or other plants generally can lower air pollution levels in both urban and rural areas, although success rates depend on a variety of factors including how much land is available to grow new plants and current air quality.

Reducing air pollution is critical to public health. An estimated 4 in 10 people in the U.S. live in areas with poor air quality, leading to health issues including asthma, lung cancer, and heart disease. The study shows that nature should be part of the planning process for industry to deal with air pollution.

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Nature might be better than tech at reducing air pollution

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Fishers Helping To Clean The Oceans

August 2, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Marine litter – particularly plastics – is a global, persistent, and increasing threat to the oceans. Much of it comes from discarded materials on shore that makes their way to the sea but waste from the fishing industry is a also a major contributor to the problem.

Commercial fishers are acutely aware of the potential for marine litter to damage and even destroy their livelihoods and are starting to try to be part of the solution instead of just part of the problem.

An initiative called Fishing for Litter, which has been operating around the British coastline since 2006, is an example.

With hubs in Scotland and South West of England, FFL aims to reduce the amount of marine litter in the sea by physically removing it while also highlighting the importance of good waste management in the fishing fleet. Fishers have to assume responsibility for their own waste and dispose of it in a responsible manner. They also have a unique ability to access remote and hard to reach marine litter caused by others.

A survey of 120 commercial fishers revealed that they often found marine litter in their hauls and that keeping the sea and coasts clean was important to them.

The responsibility for reducing marine litter does not belong to any single industry or organization. It requires a collective global change of behavior. The problem directly affects fishers, so they are especially motivated to do something about it. They can make an important contribution to an issue that ultimately affects us all. Groups like Fishing for Litter are providing a model for behavior that we can only hope that others around the world can emulate.

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Fishers keen to help address the problem of marine litter

Photo, posted July 9, 2009, courtesy of Rennett Stowe via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Cleaning Up Mount Everest

May 31, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Mount Everest is the highest mountain above sea level with an elevation over 29,000 feet. As such, it is a prime attraction for mountain climbers seeking that ultimate achievement. The summit was first reached in 1953 and for a long time, only major expeditions by the best mountaineers sought to repeat the feat.

In recent years, climbing Everest has become much more common. In fact, since 1953, more than 4,000 people have reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain. A record 807 accomplished the feat last year alone. Thousands more visit lower elevations.

But climbing Everest is neither safe nor easy. Ice and snow, powerful winds, and generally harsh conditions make Everest a treacherous place. Over the decades, hundreds of climbers have died on its slopes and many of their bodies are still up there. Apart from human remains, there are decades worth of garbage left behind by hikers and tourists.

The government of Nepal has mounted an ambitious project to clean up the refuse on Mount Everest. In just the first two weeks, volunteers removed more than three tons of trash from the mountain. Among the rubbish removed from Everest are tents, climbing equipment, bottles, cans, empty oxygen containers, and human waste. They also discovered the bodies of four climbers that had emerged from melting snow and ice.

Helicopters carried a third of the garbage to Kathmandu for recycling. The rest was taken to a local district for disposal in landfills. The initial work started at Everest’s base camp. They are next moving to sites higher on the mountain. They hope to remove at least 10 tons of trash this year.

Nepal would like to make the world’s tallest mountain clean.

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