According to the The Ocean Conservancy results released after last years' worldwide Coastal Cleanup Day, also known as CCD, over half a million volunteers picked up over 400 million kilograms of litter covering over 3,000 kilometers of coastline. Each of the top seven items picked up are made from plastic. Cigarette butts are #1 on the list food wrappers and containers came in at #2 and plastic bottles were #3. Plastic bags, caps, lids, utensils and straws made up the rest of the top seven. Plastic bags are the tip of the litter iceberg and it's becoming apparent that more source reduction efforts are needed to help stop plastic pollution. However, a company called Barber has developed the Surf Rake, which will certainly help to tackle the problem.
Although Barber make various models of the Surf Rake, I will focus on the largest model, known as the 600HD. It weighs in at roughly 1,800 kilograms, and is about double the size of the smallest model made by the company. Of all beach rakes and beach cleaning equipment used by municipalities, beaches and private facilities, it is the most widely used beach cleaner on the market. Although it is predominantly used for beaches, it has been successfully used in a wide variety of similar applications. It can clean up to nine acres an hour, and with a seven foot wide cleaning path, the 600HD has the best sand cleaning capacity of any cleaner in its class.
The video below shows the 600HD in action:
How the Surf Rake works
The Surf Rake cleaners are operated by one person from a tractor which tows the machine. The beach cleaner's moldboard levels uneven areas in the sand to ensure an even surface for cleaning and also controls the cleaning depth, while guiding the machine over large objects under the sand, which protects the conveyor system and ensures low maintenance of the Surf Rake. Individual, replaceable stainless steel tines mounted on a belt-covered bar flight conveyor then rake debris from the sand toward the moldboard deflector plate, removing surface and submerged debris with ease. Because of this, the refuse collected bounces off the beach cleaner's deflector moldboard and is deposited on the elevating portion of the conveyor, which transports the refuse to a hopper. Sand falls through the perforations in the conveyor and back onto the beach, free of litter. Finally, the hopper of the beach cleaner is hydraulically raised and tripped to dispose of the trash.
This video is a graphic of the inner working of the surf rake
Barber equipment is being used on 6 continents and in over 90 countries around the world. The Surf Rake's ability to clean a variety of beach conditions and its reputation of quality and dependability has earned Barber the honor of being the leader in beach or sand cleaning technology as well as the largest manufacturer of beach cleaners in the world. Founder of the company, Harold S. Barber, first explored the idea of building beach cleaning machines in the early 1960's. Mr. Barber understood the growing need for this type of equipment and designed the first Barber raking prototype to clean sand beaches. He named the unit the Surf Rake Model 500. Mr. Barber's novel invention quickly proved to be the most effective tool for the emerging beach cleaning industry in the United States. Today the second generation of Barbers manages the company from its Naugatuck, Connecticut headquarters.
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Sources:
www.surfrider.org
www.environmental-expert.com
www.hbarber.com