The Flow of Our Lives and the Deep Blue Sea

I’ve spent the last few weekends doing serious cleaning and organizing—one of those “phase of life” level cleanings. Children grow up into their own lives and eventually it is time to reshape the space you raised them in. When I decided to go beyond the bedrooms and toy closets no longer in use to tackle every corner of my place, I found myself asking what all cleaners and organizers must ask, since we navigate the relentless tides of living: how can I ensure that things stay neat?

I realized that the criteria for what I toss and what I keep has to be something I am clear about, something that makes sense, and has to be maintained as a guide, going forward, for what I bring into my home. But since I wish to remain dynamic and engaged I am also asking myself how I can do this without dulling my life process?

I’ve spent the last few weekends doing serious cleaning and organizing—one of those “phase of life” level cleanings. Children grow up into their own lives and eventually it is time to reshape the space you raised them in. When I decided to go beyond the bedrooms and toy closets no longer in use to tackle every corner of my place, I found myself asking what all cleaners and organizers must ask, since we navigate the relentless tides of living: how can I ensure that things stay neat? I realized that the criteria for what I toss and what I keep has to be something I am clear about, something that makes sense, and has to be maintained as a guide, going forward, for what I bring into my home. But since I wish to remain dynamic and engaged I am also asking myself how I can do this without dulling my life process? [text_ad] In the midst of musing and furiously de-cluttering, I spoke with a friend of mine is in a similar process. She told me about the KonMari method developed by Marie Kondo, author of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, which highlights, among some other points, keeping things that bring you joy and ridding yourself of things that don’t. While this Water Efficiency blog post has yet to talk about water, I promise I am on my way there. And since I know where I am going, I can't help but imagine what a conversation between Marie Kondo and Wallace J. Nichols, author of Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On Or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected and Better at What You Do might be like…but I digress from my digression… Major cleaning makes you think about where your discarded stuff is going…and how much stuff circulates in the world. My town has a Facebook page that facilitates “Unconditional Give and Take” or UGOT, and many of the things I’ve been posting to “Give” have been claimed within minutes, with people driving over to get them within the day. It is so good to see stuff go where it is needed. A couple of years back when I wanted a scratching post for my cat I put up a “Take” post and one almost magically appeared! I have also brought carloads of stuff to a local thrift store that supports community care programs. I have to add that I’ve added, most definitely, to my county’s landfill too. Overall, I’m finding this process to be hands-on learning about living more intentionally. Looking at the bigger picture, everything we clean up in this civilized world—including our varied bodies of water—begs these questions: What is needed, useful, beautiful, or wholesome such that it should be maintained? What do we do with what we remove? And how do we keep unnecessary accumulation from happening again? You probably thought I was going to talk some more about Wallace J. Nichols and Blue Mind. I have before and I surely will speak of him again sometime, but for the moment I threw that out there in my discussion of joy so you can look further into his work if you are so moved. The person who I thought of today, though, is another one I can imagine in a vibrant conversation with Wallace J. Nichols: 21-year-old Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat. I thought it was time to check in with Boyan Slat to see how things are going with his plan for cleaning up the millions of tons of plastic trash in the world’s oceans. Are you aware of the five enormous trash gyres in our oceans, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? That child of mine who has left me with an empty nest to tidy up was an Environmental Studies major in college and opened my eyes to this heartbreaking news. Stuff, stuff, stuff. It all ends up somewhere… What Boyan Slat has been focused on is an ambitious plan. And he is serious about it. He has secured close to 2.2 million dollars to begin the pilot phase for his organization, The Ocean Cleanup, which is aiming to deploy its first system into Japanese waters in 2016. And I want to be among those who spread the word about his work because if a team should embark on cleanup of this magnitude it would certainly be nice if the pollution stream that makes it necessary could be simultaneously done away with. Below is a bio for Boyan Slat who has gained recognition and support from the King of Norway, the United Nations, and the London Design Museum. I highly recommend watching his TEDx talk, “How the Oceans Can Clean Themselves,”  which refers to his system that relies on the currents of the ocean to bring in the trash rather than trying to cover every square mile—every square inch—of the blue of this blue green marble called earth. https://youtu.be/ROW9F-c0kIQ Boyan Slat (1994) is a Dutch entrepreneur and inventor who creates technologies to tackle global issues of sustainability. He is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, where he is responsible for overall strategy and cleanup technology development. Instead of going after the plastic, Boyan devised a system though which, driven by the ocean currents, the plastic would concentrate itself, reducing the theoretical cleanup time from millennia to mere years. In February 2013 he dropped out of his Aerospace Engineering study to start The Ocean Cleanup. In June 2014, having led an international team of 100 scientists and engineers for a year, the concept turned out to be 'likely a technically feasible and financially viable' method to clean up half the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 10 years' time. A subsequent crowd funding campaign then raised close to $2.2m, enabling the organization to start the pilot phase. The first 2000 m system is projected to be deployed in Japanese waters in 2016. Boyan Slat has been recognized as one of the 20 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs Worldwide (Intel EYE50), and was crowned 2014 Champion of the Earth, the United Nations' highest environmental accolade. In 2015, HM King Harald of Norway awarded Boyan the maritime industry's Young Entrepreneur Award. The Ocean Cleanup has been recognized as Design of the Year by the London Design Museum.  

Boyan Slat (1994) is a Dutch entrepreneur and inventor who creates technologies to tackle global issues of sustainability. He is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, where he is responsible for overall strategy and cleanup technology development.

Instead of going after the plastic, Boyan devised a system though which, driven by the ocean currents, the plastic would concentrate itself, reducing the theoretical cleanup time from millennia to mere years. In February 2013 he dropped out of his Aerospace Engineering study to start The Ocean Cleanup.

In June 2014, having led an international team of 100 scientists and engineers for a year, the concept turned out to be ‘likely a technically feasible and financially viable’ method to clean up half the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 10 years’ time. A subsequent crowd funding campaign then raised close to $2.2m, enabling the organization to start the pilot phase. The first 2000 m system is projected to be deployed in Japanese waters in 2016.

Boyan Slat has been recognized as one of the 20 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs Worldwide (Intel EYE50), and was crowned 2014 Champion of the Earth, the United Nations’ highest environmental accolade. In 2015, HM King Harald of Norway awarded Boyan the maritime industry’s Young Entrepreneur Award. The Ocean Cleanup has been recognized as Design of the Year by the London Design Museum.