60 Minutes: Cleaning Up The Plastic In The Ocean, 12/16/18

Discarded plastic is piling up around the world and pooling in the ocean. Sharyn Alfonsi reports on the problem’s deadly consequences for wildlife and what can be done to stop it:

Take a look around, odds are you’re surrounded by plastic. It’s in our kitchens and in our bedrooms, it keeps our food fresh and our medicine safe. It is, in many ways, a miracle product, cheap to produce and virtually indestructible. Yet plastic’s blessings are also a curse. That water bottle we use once and throw away will be with us for generations. There are campaigns to limit this plastic plague with bans on bags and straws and yet around the world, it continues to pile up, seeping into our rivers and streams and turning our oceans into a vast garbage dump. But one mop-haired young Dutchman has come up with a plan which he says will save our seas. His name is Boyan Slat, he has no formal training and his much-hyped, multi-million dollar device has made him something of a sensation. So we decided to see what all the fuss is about. Read more    Watch