Boyan Slat is the genius behind The Ocean Cleanup. He’s 21 now, so he’s getting pretty old.

He was on a diving trip in Greece in 2011 — you know, when he was around 16 — and was astounded by the amount of plastic he came across, wondering why nobody had cleaned it up.

Instead of waiting for someone to fix it, Slat came up with an idea himself, which he presented in 2012. In 2013, he began leading an international team of 100 engineers and scientists, and in 2014, they raised $2.2 million in crowdfunding.

In 2015 his vision became a reality and the longest floating structure in world history is about to hit the oceans to begin the process of fixing this very big problem.

Here at Wondrlust we salute Boyan and hope his story inspires others to care more for our planet

Next time someone complains about “kids these days,” share this story with them.

To read the full article click here

To see The Ocean Cleanup website click here