MARY
Age 9 | Prince George, BC
This is a project submitted to Little Inventors, an educational organization inspiring young thinkers to imagine inventions and to become caring citizens of the planet.
Click here to see this project on the Little Inventors website.
What is the purpose of your invention?
The purpose of the Mermicorn is to remove garbage and clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Great Pacific garbage patch is a collection of debris located in the central North Pacific Ocean. The garbage patch, which is about twice the size of Texas, is made mostly of microplastics and continues to grow in size each year.
How does your invention work?
The Mermicorn is connected to a boat on the surface of the water. The boat tows the Mermicorn and its arms grab big pieces of garbage to store in the purse on its side. The Mermicorn also eats the microplastic with its mouth, which it then recycles into useful items.
What does your invention look like?
Original design made by Mary at age 7
A rendition of the Mermicorn brought to life by Seyeon Park
What are the basic features/components of your invention?
The Mermicorn looks like a cross between a mermaid and a unicorn. It has a purse on its side for storing large pieces of garbage and a mouth for consuming microplastics. It has a tow rope attached to its body with the other end attached to a boat that propels it through the water.
How could you measure the impact of your invention to make sure it’s doing its job?
To measure the impact of the Mermicorn, divers can measure the amount of garbage in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch before and after the Mermicorn does its clean up.
What are the main problems that inspired your invention?
The Mermicon was inspired by a podcast I listened to on NPR about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. After listening to the podcast I wanted to think of ways to clean up the ocean. The podcast interviewed a journalist who had travelled to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with Greenpeace.
Why is this issue important to you?
These problems are important to me because we only have one earth and we all live here so we need to clean it up!
Show us a picture of a waterway near you.
We live close to the junction of the Nechako River and the Fraser River.
What can other people do every day to help keep the oceans clean?
To help keep our oceans and waterways clean I believe people should follow the three “R’s”: reduce, reuse, recycle!
ABOUT THE INVENTOR
Mary is a nine-year-old girl from Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. She loves to read, listen to audiobooks, swim and spend time outside.