logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2022
8m 58s

How much plastic is in the Ocean and can...

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

In October of last year popular Youtubers Mark Rober and the enigmatically named Mr Beast pledged to remove 30 million pounds of plastic from the Ocean – if they could raise $30 million dollars. A dollar per pound of plastic sounds like a fairly good deal, but how much plastic is out there and will they actually be removing anything from the Ocean at all?

(Image: Sahika Encumen dives amid plastic waste in Ortakoy coastline: photo by Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Up next
Jul 8
Does the average teacher really earn £54,000?
Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:(00:32) A government minister has informed the nation that average teacher pay in England is around £54,000. Radio 4 listeners are howling at the radio in disbelief. Surely someone from the IFS would be able to e ... Show More
28m 28s
Jul 4
Does a full moon make crime rates go up?
The Moon is one of the most captivating features of our night's sky, and apparently, one of the most suspicious.... For thousands of years, people have blamed the full moon for strange behavior. From ancient myths and the origins of the word lunacy to modern police folklore, the ... Show More
8m 58s
Jul 1
Examining the numbers behind Andy Burnham’s ‘Manchester Miracle’
Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:(00:23) Andy Burnham may not be Prime Minister yet, but he’s setting out his economic agenda, and its based on his old stomping ground, Greater Manchester. We ask whether the official figures that seem to show an ... Show More
28m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2022
Can MrBeast help fix climate change?
MrBeast is YouTube royalty: with more than 100 million subscribers, he has legions of fans around the world, in awe of his elaborate stunts. He is one of the highest-paid stars on the platform - and yet, the American YouTuber says he wants to use his platform to “make the world a ... Show More
25m 10s
Oct 2019
Ocean Cleanup’s New Plastic-Catcher … Kinda Already Exists?
A little over a year ago, a group called The Ocean Cleanup launched an unprecedented campaign to rid the seas of plastic, complete with an unprecedented device: a 600-meter-long, U-shaped tube that was meant to passively gather debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for a ship ... Show More
8m 12s
Sep 2021
How Purchasing this Office Chair Could Help Keep Plastic Out of the Ocean
These days plastics contribute to 300 million metric tons of waste in the world. In the early 2000s, our plastic waste rose more in a single decade than it had in 40 years. But what if there was a way to intercept that plastic before it enters our oceans? Talib talked with Lonely ... Show More
32m 28s
May 2017
Turning Plastic Trash into Cash
Picking up money - that’s what Haitian’s nicknamed a movement seeking to solve Haiti’s plastic waste problem and reduce poverty at the same time. It was started by a man who saw a glimmer of hope in the devastation wrought by the 2010 earthquake: plastic bottles were clogging the ... Show More
23m 31s
Aug 2019
The Truth About The Ocean and Plastic... Is It Really THAT Bad!? - Tim Silverwood Answers
In todays episode we interview ocean loving Tim Silverwood, the CEO of Take 3 For The Sea, an incredible nonprofit organisation and movement encouraging the world to take action and start cleaning up our planet! This is a topic close to our hearts and we admit, we were shocked by ... Show More
46m 47s
Apr 2024
The stream of plastic pollution: could a global treaty help us turn off the tap?
Guardian Seascapes reporter Karen McVeigh tells Madeleine Finlay about a recent trip to the Galápagos Islands, where mounds of plastic waste are washing up and causing problems for endemic species. Tackling this kind of waste and the overproduction of plastic were the topics on t ... Show More
15m 56s
Sep 2017
Mucus Mansions & Pooping Plastic
What the the world can be done about the plastic junking up our oceans? How in the world can a tiny pooping sea creature help to solve the problem? And how in the world can you get a good deal on a four-story "Mucus Mansion?" (Hint: You can't. But we'll tell you what it is!) Join ... Show More
24m 3s
Nov 2022
Business Daily Meets: Boyan Slat
How do you clean the world's oceans of plastic? 10 years ago, when he was just 18, Dutchman Boyan Slat thought he knew how to do it, and set out his vision at TED talk.The journey from theory to reality has proved difficult, but he is now extracting plastic from the Pacific and a ... Show More
18m 51s
Dec 2021
99% of ocean plastic is missing
How can we solve the problem of ocean plastic if we don’t know where most of the plastic is? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every em ... Show More
29m 54s