Polluted Lakes Are Being Cleansed Using Floating Wetlands Made of Trash
WiredWhen Pradhanang found a trash mix that could be fashioned into a platform and resist breaking down with age, she began talking to her colleagues in Nepal. On her many visits to Nepal, Pradhanang has seen children swimming in Nagdaha’s murky water, dogs lapping at the shore, and women sitting on the banks to wash dishes and clothing. But people aren’t the only ones intrigued by the floating wetlands; geese and ducks flock to the mats, sitting on the platforms and pooping phosphorus-rich excrement into the water. “There’s a real kind of, ‘If you build it, they will come’ phenomenon that’s associated with the floating wetlands,” says Max Rome, who did his PhD on FTWS in Boston’s Charles River and now works at the Charles River Watershed Association. Incorporating local trash into the mats shouldn’t make things worse overall—much of the trash is gathered from the water in the first place—but high plastic content in the water means that it can remain a risk to locals’ health, even after cleansing.
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