After the recent storms that have slammed slammed Southern California, some machines have been busy cleaning out trash and debris that has flowed into the Huntington Harbour.
“That all has to go somewhere. When these aqueducts like this lead out into channels and harbors, that’s where all the trash ends up,” said Michael Arens, CEO and co-founder of
.
He is working to clean up waterways one piece of trash at a time. The rovers look to capture the trash before it makes it out into the ocean.
“Which is essentially like a Roomba for the water,” Arens said. “It’s a small, autonomous drone that skims trash, dead fish, algae, oil, any type of floating debris off of the surface from the water.”
Currently, Clean Earth Rovers is taking part in a two-month pilot program with the city of Huntington Beach to pick up trash at two locations in the harbor.
“People can use pool nets standing from the beach or standing from the marina dock to reach things, but when it’s out even just 5 feet off the shore or in the middle of the harbor, it’s quite difficult to get to,” he said.