The best solutions often come from where you least expect them. Philip Ehrhorn is removing plastic from waterways in the Netherlands with the Bubble Barrier. The device works by blowing air through a pressurised tube which runs along a canal bed. Without disrupting aquatic life or water traffic, the bubbles guide floating plastic to a catchment system on the surface. Ehrhorn is the engineer driving this project, working alongside Anne Marieke Eveleens, Francis Zoet, and Saskia Studer - a group of friends who conceived the idea while watching beads of air rise from their beers while out one night. During an initial test, an 180-metre Bubble Barrier caught 86% of the waste in the IJssel river. Today, the pipe can be laid across any flowing body of water and has the potential to stop pollution in its tracks. Visit thegreatbubblebarrier.com to learn more. Footage by The Great Bubble Barrier was used in the creation of this film.
Up Next in Season 2
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Elaine Yan Ling Ng
Elaine Yan Ling Ng is walking on eggshells to disrupt the textiles industry. Using traditional East Asian methods of dyeing and weaving, she employs the help of local artisans to transform eggshells into floor tiles. Over 250 000 tonnes of non-biodegradable eggshells end up in landfills every yea...
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Tessa Clarke
As the daughter of a farmer, Tessa Clarke understands what it takes to grow nutritious produce that is then readily discarded before it can be consumed. She developed an app, OLIO, that instead connects users with people nearby who can share their excess food before it goes to waste. So far, OLIO...
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JJ Chuan
Ever wonder what happened to cassette tapes when they went out of fashion? Like most plastic products, they’ve ended up in landfills. The tapes are hazardous waste that take centuries to biodegrade, while the metal they’re coated in seeps into the ground. Luckily, cassettes haven’t gone out of st...
