Be Sure to Follow These Steps!
TEEN TURNS THE TIDE ON OCEAN TRASH BOYAN SLAT’S INSPIRING JOURNEY TO CLEAN OUR SEAS
YOUR MONTHLY NEED-TO-KNOWS HOW FAR IS ‘AROUND THE WORLD’? If measured at the equator, Earth’s circumference is around 24,901 miles. Meanwhile, the circumference from pole to pole is only 24,860 miles around. This is because the Earth’s rotational speed, which is faster at the equator, causes a slight bulge across the equator and slightly flattens the poles! HOW MANY PAGES CAN YOU MAKE OUT OF A TREE? While all trees are different sizes, one paper manufacturer has stated that a cord of wood measuring 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet makes around 90,000 sheets of bond-quality paper or 2,700 copies of a 35-page newspaper. HOW MANY HAIRS ARE ON A HUMAN HEAD ON AVERAGE? The average person has around 100,000 strands of hair on their head! Surprisingly, this differs depending on hair color: most redheads have around 90,000 hairs, blonds have about 140,000, and brunettes fall between these averages. Have you ever heard about the teenager who decided to clean the ocean? Meet Boyan Slat, the eco-warrior who founded The Ocean Cleanup at 18. His story of innovation and determination shows how one big idea can make waves worldwide. Boyan’s journey began unexpectedly at 16 during a scuba diving trip in Greece. Instead of marveling at exotic marine life, he was shocked to find more plastic floating around than fish. This unsettling experience sparked a burning question in his young mind: “Why don’t we just clean it up?” That question didn’t disappear with the ocean currents; it followed him home to Delft, the Netherlands, and propelled him into action. Turning his curiosity into a high school science project, Boyan faced countless reasons why cleaning the ocean was “impossible.” Not satisfied with just understanding the problem, he started experimenting with solutions. He envisioned a passive system that would use the ocean currents to gather plastic on its own — essentially, setting a trap for the plastic to come to him rather than chasing after it.
After presenting his initial ideas at a conference in 2012 and barely scratching the surface
of his aerospace engineering studies at TU Delft, Boyan decided to go further. With just 300 euros of savings and a sea of passion, he founded The Ocean Cleanup and dropped out of school. The big break came when his video talk went viral overnight, raised $90,000 through crowdfunding, and recruited a motivated team. By April 2013, Boyan launched his first Indiegogo campaign with a spirit that matched the ocean’s vastness: “I don’t know if it’s possible, and that’s exactly the reason I’m doing it.” Fast-forward to 2023, and The Ocean Cleanup has removed an astonishing 5.4 million pounds of trash from the ocean and even turned some of that recovered plastic into 25,000 pairs of sunglasses! So, next time you think you’re too young or your ideas are too ambitious, just remember Boyan Slat and his ocean-cleaning dream. It’s a reminder that sometimes, you just need to set a wide net to catch a big dream. And who knows? You might just clean up a whole ocean along the way.
Sweet Potato and Avocado Salad
Inspired by MinimalistBaker.com
DIRECTIONS
INGREDIENTS
•
1 sweet potato sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add sweet potato slices and toss in oil. 2. Bake for 15 minutes and flip. Bake for another 5–10 minutes and remove from the oven. 3. In a small bowl, mix tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup, and salt. Whisk to combine and slowly add water until the dressing is semi-thick and pourable. 4. In a serving bowl, add greens
•
1 tbsp avocado oil
Dressing •
1/4 cup tahini
• • • •
2 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp maple syrup 1 pinch of sea salt
Water, to desired consistency
Salad •
5 cups of greens (spinach or lettuce)
and top with sweet potato, avocado, and hemp seeds. Serve with dressing.
• •
1 ripe avocado, cubed
2 tbsp hemp seeds (optional)
513-231-7755 • 3
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