Help launch The ZeroPlus Ocean Plastics Project

Big impact: Small budget

Help a Navy vet. Fight ocean plastic.

I'm Eric.

I have a plan, but I need your help.

Summary

My life fell apart. As part of a plan to build a more sustainable future, I’ve been working on a project to address ocean plastic pollution. Now I need your help.

Some Background

First, I want to be clear about my service. I'm no war hero. My service was honorable but brief. I had originally enlisted in the Navy’s nuclear power program but burned out before finishing my A school. Instead, I dropped out and was assigned to the USS Enterprise as a non-rated seaman. The Enterprise was in the shipyard for a refit then, and I found myself driving buses around Newport News, Virginia until my eventual discharge. I was a sailor who never went to sea; briefly a member of the Pacific Fleet, yet never saw the Pacific. My current plan would change that.

After my discharge, I returned to Appalachia. My time since then has been marked by chronic underemployment, periodic unemployment, and occasional homelessness. Every time I tried to work a regular job and live a “normal” life, it ended poorly. Still, I kept trying.

After years of struggle, I finally decided to follow the conventional wisdom, go back to school to get my degree, and try for a “good” job. (Incidentally, did you know that if you don’t use your GI Bill within the first 10 years after your separation you lose your benefit? If you’re a vet yourself, you might want to keep that in mind.) I did pretty well academically but almost didn’t finish. Burnout had reared its head once again. I was unable to finish my honor’s thesis at that time, but eventually returned to finish my degree in 2018.

Discernment

As I was finishing my degree, my life was falling apart. Burnout drastically impacted my focus and working memory. Executive dysfunction kept me from even the activities I wanted to do. Work seemed impossible. I lost my apartment, my car, and several close relationships. The situation was dire.

Fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to focus on healing since then. Thanks to friends and family, I’ve managed to get by camping out, sleeping on floors, and couch surfing while I sort myself out. Part of my healing process has been to reflect on what went wrong so I can minimize the chances of burnout in the future.

Through it all, the big question was: what can I do to make the best of the life I have remaining?

I spent a great deal of time reflecting on the interests and themes that have stuck with me over the years. Boats and nature have been a big part of that. When I considered the problem of ocean plastic, an old trimaran design sketch of mine came to mind. Ideas started flowing and The ZeroPlus Ocean Plastics Project was born.

The Plan

My vision for ZeroPlus is to develop inexpensive, easy-to-reproduce ocean plastic clean-up tools under an open-source model. The preliminary design is for a bamboo-based skimmer system that could be retrofitted to any of the many small outrigger fishing boats found throughout the world.

With access to abundantly renewable bamboo and modest skills, fishing folk and sailors around the world would be able to rig for plastic recovery and clean the waters they know best. More details can be found on the project website (https://www.TheZeroPlusOceanPlasticsProject.com/).

Phase I of the project has involved months of research and skill-building, reflection and preparation. Preliminary design ideas have been thought through. Some ideas have been discarded while others have been iterated on. At this point, I’ve done about all I can do from where I am. I need to start testing. That's where Phase II begins.

The Need

While I’m a minimalist with decades of experience getting by on very little, some expenses are unavoidable. I’ve developed what I’ve termed a “minimal projected budget” for the project. It highlights what milestones I expect to be able to hit with different levels of funding.

$500 – The minimum I expected to need to come out to the west coast and get things rolling. With a slow start to fundraising and time ticking away, I couldn’t let a lack of support keep me from my calling. I took a 3-day bus ride to get here leaving me with little left for food and incidental expenses. I was camping out and hauling my gear around with a hand cart when I got here, but I was here. I got right to work with a couple of days of beach cleanup at Ocean Beach. I’ve since connected with the VA and gotten into some temporary housing. Now I’m looking for extra work to cover expenses.

$7,000 – This should be enough to secure a suitable used sailboat to serve as home, workspace, and tow vehicle for the skimmer prototype. A boat at this price point will undoubtedly require work, but I can do boat work. More importantly, it’ll get me out on the water and allow me to make improvements that will make future work easier. With care and luck, it may give me a good start on building the prototype as well.