The great cleanup, humanity’s next big project
SeaBin and The Ocean Cleanup are early signs of a new phase – humanity learning to clean up after itself again.
It’s easy to find a dystopian future described in movies and literature.
Technology ruling us all? The Matrix and Terminator. Too little water? Mad Max. Too much water? Water World. A frozen world? Snowpiercer. No human fertility? Children of Men. Total surveillance? 1984. Theocratic dictatorship? The Handmaid’s Tale.
These are all excellent works of fiction, but where can we find utopia? Where can we see a positive an optimistic artistic view at humanity’s future?
Stories thrive on conflict and drama. The two genres most likely to display a positive view of the future are science fiction and the big religious texts.
My social media feeds are full of advertisements for the movie version of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary. The book is excellent and shows glimpses of utopia in unexpected ways – granted it does so while life on Earth is about to be wiped out by a dying sun.
The major religions all show a path of salvation in one way or another – I’ll count that as a utopian view of the future.
The best glimpses of utopia that I see come neither from Hollywood, literature nor religion though. Rather they come from real-life, present-day organisations that are part of what I would consider humanity’s Great Global Cleanup.
First, a bit of background.
There’s a familiar pattern in human history: We charge ahead, fuelled by ambition and innovation, and only later realise that we better clean up after ourselves.
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Take the Industrial Revolution. It brought us unprecedented economic growth, scientific progress, and convenience. But it also filled our rivers with chemicals, our skies with smog, and our cities with soot. For decades, prosperity came at the cost of public health and environmental degradation.
Eventually, we said: Enough. We introduced air quality standards. We punished companies for dumping waste into waterways. We regulated emissions, banned harmful substances like lead in petrol, and started putting filters on chimneys.
Cities once choked by disgusting air (think any Charles Dickens novel based in London) became liveable again. The clean-up wasn’t instant, universally agreed as a priority, or perfect, but it happened. And crucially, it stuck. Especially in countries with strong institutions and public accountability.
That same pattern is playing out on a global scale. We polluted our shared atmosphere with greenhouse gases. We turned oceans into plastic soup. And for a while, we pretended it wasn’t our problem.
But now, belatedly, we’re waking up with projects like The Ocean Cleanup and Australia’s very own SeaBin.
The Ocean Cleanup is a brilliant initiative founded by Dutch inventor Boyan Slat. It’s mission is bold and beautifully simple: To rid the world’s oceans of plastic.
They literally go out to sea to fish plastic out of the ocean. They developed specially designed systems that harness natural currents.
They’ve already begun removing massive amounts of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. But they don’t stop there. They also work upstream with river interceptors that stop plastic before it even reaches the ocean.
It’s ambitious, inspiring, and exactly the kind of moonshot thinking the planet needs. I couldn’t speak more highly of an organisation.
SeaBin is Australia’s homegrown contribution to ocean health and it’s as impressive as it is simple. Its clever invention, the Seabin, is a floating bin that literally sucks rubbish, oil and microplastics out of marinas and harbours. It operates 24/7 like a pool skimmer for the sea.
But SeaBin isn’t just about technology – it’s about education, data, and community action.
Initiatives like these turn every bin into a conversation starter and a data point, helping the world understand the scale of the problem and the power of local solutions. It’s grassroots innovation at its finest.
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Both projects are early signs of a new phase – humanity learning to clean up after itself again.
The SeaBin works like a like a pool skimmer for the sea. Photo: Sea Life Aquarium
Yes, these efforts are still small compared to the scale of the challenge. But they signal a shift in mindset and these projects are growing strongly. We’re no longer just trying to limit damage – we’re actively trying to undo it.
There are literally thousands of organisations that are actively trying to undo the pollution and damage we’ve done to the planet so far.
There’s a long way to go. Looking after the planet comes with real costs.
Renewable energy, for example, is getting cheaper, but transitioning from fossil fuels still involves upfront investment and sometimes higher short-term energy prices.
Cleaning up plastic waste in the developing world means higher spending on waste collection, recycling, and governance in countries where institutions are fragile. That’s what I’d call an uphill battle.
But if history is a guide, we’ll get there. Eventually, we do the right thing – not because it’s easy, but because the alternative becomes unbearable.
What we’re seeing now is the early chapter of what future historians might call “The Great Global Cleanup” – a global, generational project to repair the damage we’ve done. It will be messy. It will be expensive. But it will also be one of the most important and ultimately rewarding things we ever do.
So, what might the next chapters of this Great Global Cleanup look like?
Picture sprawling permaculture projects that regenerate exhausted soils and replace deforested land with thriving food forests.
Imagine algae farms scrubbing carbon from the atmosphere, biodegradable materials replacing plastic in everyday life, and AI optimising everything from energy grids to crop yields for maximum sustainability.
Think of solar panels on every roof, fast and clean public transport connecting our cities, and circular economies where waste becomes resource.
The cleanup won’t stop at removing rubbish – it will rebuild what was lost, restore what was damaged, and reimagine how we live on this planet. Slowly, clumsily, but surely, we are becoming the custodians Earth has long needed us to be.
Oh wait, maybe you found a bit of utopian writing in The New Daily today …
Simon Kuestenmacher is a co-founder of The Demographics Group. His columns, media commentary and public speaking focus on current socio-demographic trends and how these impact Australia. His podcast, Demographics Decoded, explores the world through the demographic lens. Follow Simon on Twitter (X), Facebook, or LinkedIn.
