By Ashley Thorfinnson
What if we could transform one of our largest environmental hazards—and behavioral embarrassments—into a catalyst for change and a testament to human ingenuity? The BFI Challenge Semi-finalist entry Plastic Island proposes to do just that. By creating a self-sustaining island in the Pacific Ocean, Plastic Island will collect and recycle the ever-growing mass of floating debris that makes up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, while also creating awareness of the negative impacts of our own behaviors.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a gyre of marine pollution in the Pacific Ocean that kills millions of mammals yearly. Due to the improper disposal of plastic garbage by both land-based sources and ships, the Garbage Patch is dramatically increasing in size. From 1999 to 2004 the Garbage Patch doubled in size, and it is now larger than the continental US according to some estimates.


[An image from Photojournalist Chris Jordan's project Midway, Message from the Gyre, showing the stomach contents of decomposing birds from the Midway atoll in the Pacific. Tens of thousands of albatross chicks die each year on the Midway from consuming this diet of human trash.]

[Plastic Island birdview]

An environmental problem of such magnitude demands a solution of equal scale and ambition. Plastic Island will be built of plastic itself and shaped like a 3-pointed star. From the end of each point, membrane nets will extend 80 km out and 100m deep to catch waste. According to their Challenge entry application, large kites or boats will be used to drag the membranes, rotating the island at a speed slow enough to catch all the waste and still “give marine life a chance to escape.” In keeping with Buckminster Fuller's principle, "Don't fight forces, use them," the island will use water and wind currents and a strategic location between gyres to let all the waste come to them naturally, saving energy. The island will also be financially self-supporting, through the creation and sale of recycled plastic products produced at an on-site recycling facility. This will create an estimated 800 jobs, and the island will have clean energy, food production, health services etc. to sustain the 800+ residents of the island. Plastic Island will also use its location and mission to become one of the leading facilities of marine life research.


[Plastic Island underwater]

Because the Garbage Patch is in international waters, it is everybody's problem but nobody's responsibility. The out-of-the-box thinking presented by Plastic Island aims to attract international attention and inspire the collaboration of designers, companies, and academic institutions. However there are many questions that still need to be answered, and many partnerships that need to be formed. The current team is partnered with the same Dutch engineering firm who built the large off-shore platforms of the Dubai Palms (artificial islands built out of reclaimed land for residential and leisure purposes in the UAE), but there is still much testing to be done of the island's construction. Working in international waters will demand a world-wide responsibility and accountability, and the team will need to rely on more international partners for funding, research, and collaboration in the execution of their vision. The BFI Challenge and other international publicity generating efforts will be used by Plastic Island to bring more awareness to the issues and pressing problems surrounding the Garbage Patch.

However, the solution presented by Plastic Island may not represent a true preferred state. The ultimate goal, and something that Plastic Island recognizes as the first priority, is a change of human behaviors and the reduction of pollution. They have been working with the Dutch Polymer Institute to develop biodegradable plastics, and continue to attempt to raise funds to stop pollution in the first place. One of the key strengths of this project is in its recognition of the need to raise awareness and facilitate change, and the inclusion of that notion in their proposal. The concept and creation of Plastic Island will not only serve to clean our oceans, but it will create dialogue and catalyze change by drawing attention to the Garbage Patch, and the human misbehavior that has created it. Much like Bucky said, "None of the world's problems will have a solution until the world's individuals become thoroughly self-educated"

the application can be viewed in the Idea Index

Ashley Thorfinnson