Endowment Offers $1 Million for Tech to Get Plastic Out of Oceans
*By Madison Alworth*
Ocean pollution is a problem only [expected](http://web.unep.org/unepmap/un-declares-war-ocean-plastic) to get worse, and the Endowment for Clean Oceans is hoping to find viable solutions to our plastic problem. So the organization is offering big money to citizens who want to clean up the environment.
"We have two contests," Daniel Perrin, the agency's founder, said Wednesday in an interview on Cheddar. "One is for $1 million for the best idea or technology to remove the plastic that's in the ocean now. And the second contest is for $5 million to create an economically viable, workable, biodegradable alternative to plastics."
There are [5 trillion pieces](https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2017/03/21/the-worlds-oceans-are-infested-with-over-5-trillion-pieces-of-plastic-infographic/#159e83adab76) of plastic floating in the ocean. Interestingly, ocean pollution is one cause many voters seem to rally behind, regardless of political alignment. According to a recent survey from Zogby Analytics, [81 percent](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180829005005/en/Finally-Divided-America-81-Agree-Poll-Commissioned) of voters polled were concerned about the plastic in the ocean.
ECO wants to encourage all inventors to get involved in solving that problem.
The competition and prizes will be divided among three groups. ECO is calling for submissions from "corporations and universities," "garage inventors," and "lower-school students." ECO anticipates that the corporation-university solution group will take home the $1 million prize, the garage inventor will receive a significant investment in their company, and the student will win a full scholarship to a school of his or her choice.
Pierre-Yves Cousteau has been tapped to be a judge for the ECO Science and Technology Committee. The son of world-renowned conservationist, author, and filmmaker Jacques-Yves Cousteau is [continuing](https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/09/a-conversation-with-pierre-yves-cousteau-conservationist/244867/) his father's legacy of studying and protecting oceans.
"I've been diving all over the world for the past 15 years, and I have yet to do a single dive where I don't encounter plastic," Cousteau told Cheddar Wednesday.
Cousteau and Perrin hope the [competition](https://www.endowmentforcleanoceans.org/) will inspire inventors to think more creatively.
"The plastic technology hasn't changed for 50 years. It's about time we upgraded to a ceramic or something that, when it gets in the ocean, it will not stay for 600 years like some of the industrial fishing lines are now," Perrin said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/finding-a-solution-to-plastic-pollution).
Pharmaceutical company Merck has announced that it will share the formula of its COVID-19 pill with poor countries free of charge. The company still intends to charge wealthier nations leaving the end cost at more than $700 per five-day treatment course.
Dems race for a deal on President Biden's economic agenda ahead of his big foreign trip. What to make of the latest threat assessment in Afghanistan. Plus, the meme cryptocurrency of the moment that's now worth more than many Fortune 500 companies.
Jill and Carlo discuss the pending approval for Pfizer's vaccine for kids, the state of anti-Semitism three years after Tree of Life, potential criminal charges in the 'Rust' prop gun shooting and more.
Amalgamated Bank is the first U.S. bank to publish science-based targets to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. The bank says it will reach this goal through how it engages with customers and how it finances projects. Amalgamated Bank Chief Sustainability Officer Ivan Frishberg joined Cheddar Climate to provide more details about the bank's ambitious climate goals.
COP26 been dealt a blow as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose countries are responsible for a third of the world's annual greenhouse gas emissions, will not be in attendance. Bertrand Piccard, Chairman and Founder of the Solar Impulse Foundation, joins Cheddar Climate, where he discusses what he expects to see when the summit commences in Glasgow.
John Nosta, WHO Technology Expert, joins Cheddar News to discuss evolving technology in the healthcare industry and the role 5G is playing in advancing healthcare delivery.
According to the latest report from the UN, several countries around the world are "nowhere near" towards their goal of limiting gas emissions. This report comes ahead of the COP26 which is slated to take place in the month of November in Scotland. Senior Advisor at CDP Paula Diperna, joined Cheddar to discuss what the report highlights and what this tells us about the future plans of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Powerful weather systems over California have caused record amounts of rainfall in the state, including over wildfire-scorched lands since triggering massive landslides.
The FDA meets today on whether or not vaccines for children ages 5-11 can potentially become available to the public. Cheddar News was joined by Dr. Richard Besser, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former Acting Director of the CDC to discuss what could come next for these vaccines.
Dan DePodwin, Director of Forecasting Operations at AccuWeather, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to talk about the extreme weather across the country, including damaging rains in the drought-stricken western U.S. and an incoming Nor'easter that's likely to cause flooding and power outages along the Atlantic coast.
