Electrolux has decided to draw attention to our plastic pollution problem by starting a new Vac from the Sea initiative.  The company will be collecting plastic from the floating waste dumps on oceans and seas around the world.  The recovered plastic will be used to make a special line of concept vacuum cleaners.

The Electrolux company will be creating a collection of concept vacuum cleaners from several of the world’s floating trash dumps.  The company hopes that this campaign will raise public awareness for the need for more recycled plastics and the need to cleanup the floating waste.

Plastic is a material with many advantages. But when plastic ends up in the wrong place it becomes an environmental hazard. The way we use and re-use plastics – and the different degrees of corporate and individual responsibility in these matters – are all part of our Plastic Karma.

The most well known floating waste dump is the Pacific Vortex, a floating plastic trash dump twice the size of Texas.  Other floating trash dumps, although smaller, can be found in the Atlantic and Indian oceans, as well as, the Baltic, North and Mediterranean seas. 

Electrolux hopes that its Vac from the Sea program will raise awareness of the need for increased recycling worldwide.  Part of the problem for many manufacturers is a limited amount of recycled plastic for use in such items as vacuum cleaners.  Another part of the problem is the confusion over what plastics can be recycled and where to recycle them.

For years only plastics with a one or two on the bottom could be recycled and colors had to be separated out for additional processing.  Although other types of plastic with numbers three through seven are recyclable, very few people know where to take it to be recycled.  Just getting the more well known recyclable plastics to recyclers can be a problem.

Some areas have roadside pick up of approved recyclable plastic while in other places you have to find a place to take your recyclables.  The later is not often easy and can cost you money to drop off the bottles and other items.  People are people and making it easy for them to recycle at home and find recycling places when on vacation is crucial. 

The Vac from the Sea program is hoping to raise worldwide awareness to the level that recycling will become more extensive and easier to participate in.  Until it becomes second nature for us to recycle, the floating plastic dumps will continue to increase in size poisoning our marine life and ourselves.