thanks to Luca Babini
Today is an exciting day for a few eco-adventures experiencing their first full day at sea aboard the the recycled masterpiece: The Plastiki. Environmentalist David de Rothschild is leading a crew of six on their journey from San Francisco to Sydney in a sailboat made entirely from reused and recycled materials. The majority of the boat is made from plastic, one liter bottles (12,000 to be exact), but there are also irrigation pipes for the mast and boom, and recycled plastics make up the deck and sails on this 60 ft. catamaran. The crew’s goal: highlight the waste created by plastic bottles and draw attention to where that waste ends up– The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
While all of the oceans have massive garbage patches caused by the ocean currents which gather the debris together, the Pacific patch is the biggest at over twice the size of Texas. That’s right; it’s TWICE the size of Texas.
In the past, my wife has guffawed at how huge the patch has grown. “Why don’t they just clean it up,” she has asked, and because her nose is so cute, I don’t laugh at her innocence. “They” can’t clean it up, you see. The gathered garbage patch is made up an ineffable amount of small particulates consisting of plastic and chemical sludge (yes, sludge) that has collected within the currents. It is simply impossible to scoop this sludge up with a net, for the particles are just too minuscule. While there often are large patches of visible and identifiable waste floating in the ocean, a majority of this and other trash vortexes are made up of MUCH smaller material that may even be hard too see, but it does terrible damage to sea life nonetheless. (Warning: here are some disturbing images of this damage).
Considering that today is world water day, there is another reason to highlight plastic bottles. I, for one, think that it is great that people in developed countries are drinking more water and less cola, but the number of plastic bottles wasted every year is staggering and growing. When there are so many better options, like drinking out of the water fountain or carrying your own, reusable water container, why do we need to add waste by using plastic water bottles.
The Plastiki is completely powered by wind, solar and peddle power. There are a bank of solar panels on the cabin roof, a wind turbine on the rear deck and two stationary bikes that can be used for exercise and emergency power. They are carrying food and water but also have a hand-powered desalinator so that they can generate their own clean water.
The crew will be blogging regularly and updating both their progress on the ocean and their environmental findings. Considering they are only on their first day at sea, and they have already started to see sea trash, I think it promises to be a busy trip.
Next time that you are at the store buying your groceries, think about the Plastiki and see if you can do without plastic bottles. If enough people boycott plastic, eventually manufactures will change their ways and start making a greener packaging. I will try to keep you updated on the Plastiki’s progress, but if you want to learn more about the ship and their progress they have a great website.
More information on the Voyage of the Plastiki
-National Geographic Adventure
