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Very cool idea. Probably wouldn't want to do it where there is marine life though.

by aiphex 7y ago

chrisweekly 7y ago
Agreed, so cool! And good point. Here's to finding a way to keep micro-plastics out of the ocean altogether, for the sake of marine life, humanity and the planet.
krallja 7y ago
Generally, there is not marine life in the drain line of a washing machine.
- r00fus 7y ago
  Amusing but I think aiphex was considering the possible reuse of this tech against the pacific gyre.
  - chongli 7y ago
    If we cut off the microplastics at the source then the gyre will eventually take care of itself. The problem right now is that we’re continually adding more and more pollution.
    - dwiel 7y ago
      What do you mean "take care of itself"?
      - chongli 7y ago
        It'll make its way through the food chain and gradually clear up. Yes, it's going to harm a lot of ocean life in the mean time, but there's not much we can do about that. It's like trying to get red wine out of the white carpet and back into the bottle. We should stop spilling the wine or at the very least drink it somewhere safer.
        hanniabu 7y ago
        Or we can attack the issue at the source and the gyre...
  - 4ntonius8lock 7y ago
    Where in the FA does it talk about using it in the ocean?
- noninoy 7y ago
  washing machine waste water goes to rivers, rivers go to oceans
4ntonius8lock 7y ago
Even cooler idea; reading articles before commenting. Where in the FA does it talk about using this in the ocean?
- jpearson 7y ago
  The first sentence of the article mentions that the key problem is the microplastics that have reached the ocean. Cutting off one source is valuable, but that will still leave lots of microplastics in the ocean. I don't think aiphex is wrong to comment on the technology's limitations. Why do you think that the inability to solve a related problem (microplastics in laundry wastewater vs in the ocean) with the same technique is too far off topic?
- dang 7y ago
  Please don't be a jerk on HN, no matter how right you are about an article. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Very cool idea. Probably wouldn't want to do it where there is marine life though.

by aiphex 7y ago

Very cool idea. Probably wouldn't want to do it where there is marine life though.

Agreed, so cool! And good point. Here's to finding a way to keep micro-plastics out of the ocean altogether, for the sake of marine life, humanity and the planet.

krallja 7y ago

Generally, there is not marine life in the drain line of a washing machine.

r00fus 7y ago
Amusing but I think aiphex was considering the possible reuse of this tech against the pacific gyre.
- chongli 7y ago
  If we cut off the microplastics at the source then the gyre will eventually take care of itself. The problem right now is that we’re continually adding more and more pollution.
  - dwiel 7y ago
    What do you mean "take care of itself"?
    - chongli 7y ago
      It'll make its way through the food chain and gradually clear up. Yes, it's going to harm a lot of ocean life in the mean time, but there's not much we can do about that. It's like trying to get red wine out of the white carpet and back into the bottle. We should stop spilling the wine or at the very least drink it somewhere safer.
      - hanniabu 7y ago
        Or we can attack the issue at the source and the gyre...
- 4ntonius8lock 7y ago
  Where in the FA does it talk about using it in the ocean?
noninoy 7y ago
washing machine waste water goes to rivers, rivers go to oceans

4ntonius8lock 7y ago

Even cooler idea; reading articles before commenting. Where in the FA does it talk about using this in the ocean?

jpearson 7y ago
The first sentence of the article mentions that the key problem is the microplastics that have reached the ocean. Cutting off one source is valuable, but that will still leave lots of microplastics in the ocean. I don't think aiphex is wrong to comment on the technology's limitations. Why do you think that the inability to solve a related problem (microplastics in laundry wastewater vs in the ocean) with the same technique is too far off topic?
dang 7y ago
Please don't be a jerk on HN, no matter how right you are about an article. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html