Toronto is putting more floating garbage cans in Lake Ontario
If you've visited the internationally beloved Toronto waterfront in the last two months, you may have noticed something peculiar in the water (besides the usual gamut of terrifying trash): three floating garbage cans, a recent attempt by the city's Outer Harbour Marina to cut down on debris in Lake Ontario.
This morning, Ports Toronto implemented phase two of its Seabin Pilot Program, which saw the maiden voyage of two additional bins provided from the Australian-based Seabin Project.
@PortsToronto Infrastructure VP Chris Sawicki talks to media about how our new Seabins work to capture rubbish from #singleuseplastics to #microplastics smaller than a grain of rice. pic.twitter.com/ZWMClUIJzZ
— PortsToronto (@PortsToronto) October 10, 2019
The bins' technology, created by two surfers who were sick of seeing ocean ecosystems damaged by pollution, uses an up-and-down motion and a pump to filter water from the surface through a catch bag to be emptied later.
The bins can collect anything from large materials to microplastics, and can even remove oil pollutants.
Exciting news, #Toronto: today, @PortsToronto launched the second phase of their Seabin pilot project at historic Pier 6 🌊 #TOwaterfront
— The Waterfront BIA (@WaterfrontBIA) October 10, 2019
Watch as Geoffrey Wilson, CEO of PortsToronto shares about this landmark initiative pic.twitter.com/VxhBxgQo4E
The project, which could see the removal of up to 1.4 metric tons of trash per bin per year, is the first of its kind at a North American waterfront and has been celebrated by those looking for innovative solutions to the lake's garbage problem.
More seabins launched by @PortsToronto & @UofTtrashteam for cleaning up our inner harbour, each removing 4.4 pounds of waste per day #swimdrinkfish #plasticfree 👊💧 pic.twitter.com/RwhJcrxjMM
— Shannon Baker (@eshannonbaker) October 10, 2019
PortsToronto CEO Geoffrey Wilson says in a press release that the deployment of the bins is only one step in the process of cleaning up the city's waterfront; the rest is up to Torontonians.
"The next step is learning from this waste in an effort to educate and change behaviour," he says.
