IMAGE SOURCE: ARCHDAILY
A renowned environmental activist Bea Johnson once quoted aptly,
“Refuse What You Do Not Need
Reduce What You Do Need
Reuse What You Consume
Recycle What You Cannot Refuse,
or Reuse and Rot the Rest.”
The world’s population refuses to slow down and with its increase, the amount of waste mainly plastic waste is growing beyond imagination. Plastic pollution has caused tremendous harm to the ecological system, humans and marine ecosystem. It is certainly difficult to stop the pollution but recycling of waste has emerged as a beacon of hope to address this serious environmental concern. Therefore, scientists remain engaged in innovating feasible solutions to curb plastic pollution. A senior designer Lenka Petrakova has conceptualized a ground-breaking model named “Eighth Continent”
The Winner of the 2020 Grand Prix Prize for architecture and innovation in the sea, the ‘8TH Continent’ could be a milestone for marine cleanup. It is a self-sustainable research lab that would assume myriad crucial responsibilities in the gamut of controlling plastic pollution.
Recycling Plastic Wastes from Ocean would be the most important task of this marine station. The marine ecosystem is highly disturbed by untreated wastes. Foran instance, there is a huge amount of garbage at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Currently, it is cleaned with large nets. But with the 8th Continent assuming its function, it will become an easeful task.
The shape of the marine station is quite intriguing and bears a striking resemblance to a water lily. It would be chained to the sea bed but would float along with water currents. It is no wonder that no other name besides “Floating Continent” could justify with the name of this resourceful marine station destined to perform a role of a self-sustainable living organism.
This dynamic marine station comprises different main parts encompassing the barrier, the research, the collector, greenhouses, education centre, and living quarters with resourceful support facilities. The three ‘fin’ kind of structure would collect the wastes and help to generate tidal energy. On the top of this marine station, there would be research and education centres where operators and researchers would live and study. In addition, there would be a water desalination plant and hydro-phonic plants. A biodegradable infrastructure will be placed to treat plastic waste.
Nevertheless, this revolutionary model is in the conceptual stage but there is no denial of the fact that its design is promising and captures the imagination in the context of sustainability. However, shaping this design into a reality would be one of its kind of challenges. Sufficient funds and resources would be required for the same.
The chief designer is pinning all her hopes on Elon Musk to translate this project into a reality. Petrakova believes that given his unrivalled scientific aptitude and willingness to accept big challenges, he may take a candid inclination in solving one of the biggest problems faced by the entire planet. As far as we humans are concerned, we are eager to greet Floating Continent with much enthusiasm as it has the potential to unlock the key to the “New World”
“It angers me when sustainability gets used as a buzzword.
For 90 percent of the world, sustainability is a matter of survival”
Do not forget to share your thoughts on this inventive 8th continent.
