Pacific Springs

Our solution name perfectly describes our solution; we "Spring" clean and recycle the trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to make school supplies for underprivileged children around the world.

The specific problem we are trying to solve is the issue of plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean and the lack of access to essential education resources for underprivileged children worldwide. The scale of the problem in our community is global, as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch alone is estimated to contain 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic and is affecting marine life and ecosystems. According to UNESCO, around 264 million students are out of school globally, with many living in poverty and facing socioeconomic barriers to education.

The factors contributing to this problem include the increasing use of single-use plastics and poor waste management practices, which lead to plastic ending up in the ocean. Additionally, poverty and lack of access to educational resources are significant factors contributing to the lack of access to education for underprivileged children.

The consequences of this problem include harm to marine life and ecosystems and the potential for plastic pollution to enter the food chain. Additionally, the lack of access to education for underprivileged children can lead to a lack of opportunities and a cycle of poverty. By cleaning and recycling the trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and using it to make school supplies, we aim to address both of these issues and positively impact the environment and access to education for underprivileged children.

Our solution is to use boats, specialized equipment, or even Artificial Intelligence to collect plastic debris and debris from the ocean and then recycle it to make school supplies for underprivileged children worldwide.
Cleaning the Pacific Garbage Patch involves deploying boats equipped with nets and other specialized equipment to collect plastic debris from the ocean surface. However, after new technological advances, an "Interceptor" robot automatically picks up trash with huge nets that can tackle up to 80% of waste in one designated area.

Fortunately, we don't need robots to do our work because the majority of garbage world is picked up by deploying boats mentioned earlier. Once the debris is collected, it is brought back to shore, sorted, cleaned, and processed.

The plastic waste is then recycled into raw materials that can be used to make new products, including school supplies such as pencils, pens, and even clothing which are essential for schools.

The technology used in the process includes boats, nets, and other specialized equipment for collecting debris from the ocean is already done by many sea cleaning organizations around the world. Our solution is not only environmental-friendly but also ensures we can help children access educational resources.

The target population whose lives we are working to directly and meaningfully improve are disadvantaged students worldwide who lack access to primary educational resources. These children are often from low-income families and communities and may face barriers to education, such as poverty.

Currently, these children are under-served because they may not have access to basic educational resources such as textbooks, pens, and paper, which can impede their ability to learn and succeed in school. Additionally, the plastic pollution in the Pacific Garbage Patch is a problem that dramatically affects the environment and marine life, leading to a lack of access to resources and livelihoods for communities that rely on fishing and aquaculture.

Our solution addresses the needs of these children by cleaning and recycling the trash from the Pacific Garbage Patch to make school supplies for them. This not only helps to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean but also provides underprivileged children with the primary educational resources they need to succeed in school. Our solution can also provide employment and economic opportunities for the local communities where we operate, helping to alleviate poverty and create sustainable livelihoods.

Our team has experience on the topic of cleaning the ocean as three of us have already done two research papers on plastic pollution, not only on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch but also rivers in the United States, such as the Delaware River being polluted with plastic and garbage pollution. Additionally, one of our members has experience in woodworking and how school supplies are made because of a course, they did over the summer. Also, all of us are regular volunteers, with a combined time of 162 hours and 30 minutes.

We have not yet volunteered or worked with an existing organization working on this problem; however, we know which organizations and companies specialize in this type of field, such as The Ocean Cleanup and 4ocean, who already recycle ocean trash into bracelets, and know their process of creating bracelets from waste, could inspire us on how we process the trash into everyday supplies.