My friend Don called last night. We hadn't spoken since the oil mess started, and I asked him his ideas.
What he told me could be a big part of the solution.
Don's a very smart guy who can build or fix just about anything. For the past two weeks, he, like most of us, has been pretty bummed out about this whole business. Unlike a lot of us, his mind went immediately searching for solutions.
"I started just thinking about things that soaked things up. Paint spills, oil in the garage. I was thinking over all the absorbing stuff I've used, cloth, paper, hay, sand. Then it hit me: cardboard. How many times have I wicked up oil with a piece of cardboard?"
Don's plan: Get the wrapped bales of cardboard from retail stores, truck 'em down to Port Sulphur, Venice, the Mississippi coast. Utilize the fishermen and workers that are idle to boat the bales to marsh inlets and make a wall of them. Service barges could circulate picking up the oil-soaked bales and replacing them with fresh ones.
I rolled Don's idea over in my mind, talked to some folks and did some googling and I can't see why it won't work.
It's not elegant or high-tech, but it could help solve the immediate need to keep oil out of marshes and beaches. There are a few bumps: cardboard is the one recyclable that retailers actually make money from and prying it loose could be a job. But, hey, everybody loves good PR, being seen as a friend to the community. I think that part's doable.
Don tells me he sent the idea to the Horizon "idea" site--twice. Saturday, he got back an email that makes a magazine editor's boilerplate rejection seem warm.
Dear [Don],
Thank you so much for taking the time to think about and submit your proposed solution regarding the Horizon incident. Your submission has been reviewed for its technical merits. Unfortunately, the team has determined that your idea cannot be applied under the very challenging and specific operating conditions we face. All of us on the Horizon Support Team appreciate your thoughts and efforts.
Sincerely yours,
Horizon Support Team
Now, he's frustrated. "Look, I don't want money for this," he says. "I don't need credit. I'd just like to see it get tried. It's cheap, it's doable today."
He's considering going to the local TV stations this week to pitch up the idea. I told him I'd post it here and see what y'all smart people thought. Got any ideas?