Boyan Slat, International Dark-Sky Association, David Vaughan saving Coral Reefs, Radio Silence in Green Bank, West Virginia, Rick talks to two doctors about the President, Mark Brandon is brilliant! Email me at rf@richardfriedman.net Check us out on Twitter! Want to learn more about the subject and people featured on this episode? David Vaughan https://www.earthday.org/edn-spotlight-dr-david-vaughan (https://www.earthday.org/edn-spotlight-dr-david-vaughan) Boyan Slat https://theoceancleanup.com/about/ (https://theoceancleanup.com/about/) International Dark Sky Association https://www.darksky.org/ (https://www.darksky.org/) Green Bank bank-observatory.html">https://www.space.com/green-bank-observatory.html (bank-observatory.html">https://www.space.com/green-bank-observatory.html) Mark Brandon http://www.open.ac.uk/people/mab49 (http://www.open.ac.uk/people/mab49) Speaker 1: (https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/Edit?token=hOBHXHnDS9WVA7eqZfy6WEtmVnowbHym-cAzll_lx7KQdMgS0fMG99p7SHOFLgAkhXDUWPP5ANX8gK7k50lHftvifoYandloadFrom=PastedDeeplinkandts=8.43 (00:08)) Welcome to a breath of fresh earth, taking the commitment to a clean environment, to the next level. Your host, Rick Friedman will crone the climate heroine villain of the week. Along with discussing worldwide environmental issues, showcasing new products, designed with the longevity of our planet in mind and putting the spotlight on the individuals, making a big impact in helping the climate and pollution crisis through social media. Now your host, Rick Friedman, thanks Rick: (https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/Edit?token=hOBHXHnDS9WVA7eqZfy6WEtmVnowbHym-cAzll_lx7KQdMgS0fMG99p7SHOFLgAkhXDUWPP5ANX8gK7k50lHftvifoYandloadFrom=PastedDeeplinkandts=38.63 (00:38)) Stuff for the intro, Steph. And we'll hear from you later at the end of the show today, we're going to switch things up a bit. Our lead story is also our climate hero of the week. So let's do this right Speaker 1: (https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/Edit?token=hOBHXHnDS9WVA7eqZfy6WEtmVnowbHym-cAzll_lx7KQdMgS0fMG99p7SHOFLgAkhXDUWPP5ANX8gK7k50lHftvifoYandloadFrom=PastedDeeplinkandts=49.88 (00:49)) It's time for the climate hero of the week. Rick: (https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/Edit?token=hOBHXHnDS9WVA7eqZfy6WEtmVnowbHym-cAzll_lx7KQdMgS0fMG99p7SHOFLgAkhXDUWPP5ANX8gK7k50lHftvifoYandloadFrom=PastedDeeplinkandts=56.72 (00:56)) Dutch vendor Boyan Slat founded the ocean cleanup at the age of 18 in his hometown of Delphi, the Netherlands, it all started when then 16 year old Boyan was diving in Greece and saw more plastic than fish. He devoted his high school science project to understanding the problem and research why cleanup was considered impossible. It became clear that a cleanup using vessels and nets would take thousands of years, cost tens of billions of dollars and harmful to sea life. There are five major plastic accumulation zones in the world where ocean currents converge. We learned about them when we featured Marcus Erickson and his company five gyres in episode 12, these accumulation zones are commonly called garbage patches. The majority of ocean plastic will not go away by itself, but instead it slowly breaks down into microplastic. Boyan came up with an idea to develop a passive concentration system. Rick: (https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/Edit?token=hOBHXHnDS9WVA7eqZfy6WEtmVnowbHym-cAzll_lx7KQdMgS0fMG99p7SHOFLgAkhXDUWPP5ANX8gK7k50lHftvifoYandloadFrom=PastedDeeplinkandts=108.2 (01:48)) Instead of going after the plastic, he lets the plastic come to him, led by slot. Now 26, the ocean cleanup is designing and developing cleanup systems to what is already polluting our oceans into intercept plastic on its way to the ocean via rivers. Speaking of rivers, slot belt, the interceptor, the interceptor is the first scalable solution to prevent plastic from entering the world's oceans. Coming from rivers, it is a hundred percent solar powered extracts plastic autonomously, and is capable of operating... Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/a-breath-of-fresh-earth/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy