Slat: University is a means to an end and not for everyone
Boyan Slat · Ep 69: How a Teenager Set Out to Rid the Ocean of Plastic; Boyan Slat & the Ocean Cleanup · Joe Lonsdale · Nov 8, 2023 · at 3:03
Boyan Slat, founder of The Ocean Cleanup and a former Thiel Fellow, reflects on dropping out of his aerospace engineering program to build his ocean cleaning initiative.
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“University is, is kind of a means to an end. I think, you know, I employ a lot of people that do have engineering degrees. Of course we need those. But I don't think it's necessarily the right path for everyone. And, you know, if you can reach your goals without it, I think, you know, saves a bunch of years.”
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More from Boyan Slat
Slat: Modern per-capita environmental impact is smaller than hunter-gatherers'
“So I think per capita, our environmental impact today is actually smaller than the hunter gatherers.”
Slat: Stop ocean pollution by targeting ocean-bound plastic over total production
“It's our view that if you want to quickly stop plastic from polluting the ocean, you should probably first focus on that 0.1% rather than the whole thing.”
Slat: Ocean Cleanup needs 10 systems over 10 years for Pacific patch
“For the Great Pacific Garbage Patch if we get to nominal performance, you know, which is the goal for the next nine months with our current system, we would need about 10 of those systems to get the job done in 10 years.”
Slat: Ocean Cleanup technology will be ready to scale by late 2024
“And yeah, I think in about nine months time, we should be at the point that we can say, Hey, we're ready. We're ready for this. The technology is ready. Now it's just up to the willingness of the world to make this happen and make it scale.”