In the late 80s oceanographers, they discovered what has since been named The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is an enormous stretch of the Pacific Ocean where ocean currents have pushed plastic garbage and debris. Tons of plastic have been collected in this one area. It is difficult to know precisely how large the garbage patch is, but it is estimated to be between 700,000 square kilometers to 15,000,000 square kilometers. That is anywhere from the size of Texas to roughly the size of Russia! A large portion of the debris is confetti-like plastic. This debris has chipped away from larger plastic products. This is problematic for sea life because it is easily confused with food. Marine animals suffer and die from ingesting plastic that they cannot digest. The United Nations estimated that by the year 2050, the oceans may contain more plastic than fish.
This became a concern for a young man, Boyan Slat. When he was 16 years old, he went diving in Greece. He realized that he found more plastic bags in the ocean than fish. He spent half of his school year studying why floating ocean plastic is so challenging to clean up. With a passion for engineering, Boyan came up with a concept to clean up ocean garbage patches. He wanted to create an inexpensive solution. He also didn't want to risk catching ocean wildlife by accident, while collecting plastics. Most other garbage-catching models relied on creating a garbage collector that would move through the oceans. Boyan wanted to create a collector that stayed in one place, with the plastic waste gravitating towards it.
In 2012, he presented his concept at a conference and continued working on the design alongside other engineers, scientists, and experts. After the conference, Slat received support and attention. In 2013, he began an organization to make his idea a reality. It is called The Ocean Cleanup. Since then, The Ocean Cleanup has raised money, launched expeditions, done studies, and tested prototypes to support this project. His plastic-collecting system includes a garbage collector suspended in between two large booms. The booms catch the drifting plastic and slowly force it toward the center of the collector. The collector would need to be emptied by boat about once a month.
It is predicted that the system would filter out tens of thousands of debris each year. Boyan expects that it could collect as much as 50% of the total ocean trash in just five years! The first cleanup system is set to begin by mid-2018. In the future, Boyan's brilliant ideas may completely clean up our oceans!
Which of the following best explains why Boyan's design for a garbage collector was better than those that had preceded it?
a.He had a passion for engineering and design that made him better suited to designing a successful model that would work in the real world.
b.He worked alongside other engineers, scientists, and experts doing many studies, expeditions, and testing to ensure it was an effective design.
c.It was a cheaper, simpler solution where the collector would flow toward the garbage instead of the garbage flowing toward the collector.
d.It was a cheaper, simpler solution where the garbage would flow toward the collector instead of the collector flowing toward the garbage.