Boyan Slat was on a diving trip in Greece in 2011, finding himself surrounded by plastic waste. <br /><br />So he decided to do something about it.<br /><br />"I finally decided to put both university and my social life on hold to focus all my time on developing this idea. I wasn't sure if it would succeed, but considering the scale of the problem, I thought it was important to at least try." <br />Slat<br /><br />And this year, he's launching his garbage-collecting booms to the eastern Great Pacific Garbage Patch...<br /><br />... <br />
