The non-profit organization called The Ocean Cleanup has started a mission to clean up the world’s oceans. Unfortunately, the world’s oceans are one of the biggest garbage patches in the world, but the organization hopes to fix that.

Founded by Dutch inventor Boyan Slat, the cleanup organization is the first defense against the growing environmental problem. The 18-year-old inventor hopes to clean up what scientists say is an amazing amount of plastic in our oceans.

A recent scientific report shows that plastic is the dominant type of trash floating in our oceans. The study picked up 1,136,145 pieces of floating debris of which 99.99 percent was plastic. The largest area of trash is located between Hawaii and California.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, as the area has been nicknamed, takes up a place comparable to the size of Texas. The Ocean Cleanup will attempt to use passive drift systems to clean up at least half of the garbage in a five year period of time.

The project involves an enormous floater device made of hard-walled pipe. The floater will catch and concentrate the plastic, but is flexible enough to follow the waves. A giant screen is underneath the floater allowing currents to flow freely underneath while allowing the garbage to collect on the surface.

The floater will be carried out to sea by a large ship and an anchor will be put underneath the floater to keep it stable while collecting debris. The team behind The Ocean Cleanup hopes to relieve marine life from garbage that is collecting in their habitat.

What do you think of this ambitious project? Check out the video below of a simulation of The Ocean Cleanup and be sure to share it with your friends.