Monday, March 22, 2010
Plastiki sets sail (photo: Luca Babini)
Built to draw attention to the problem of plastic pollution, the 60-foot sailboat Plastiki set sail Saturday on an 11,000-mile voyage from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia. The unusual boat was built almost entirely out of plastic, including 12,500 recycled bottles, to demonstrate how the material can be reused instead of just thrown away.
The brainchild of banking dynasty heir David de Rothschild, the Plastiki will sail through the North Pacific Gyre, home to “The Great Garbage Patch” of plastic debris that’s collected into a mess twice the size of Texas.
De Rothschild and his crew expect to complete their voyage in 100 days using solar panels, wind turbines and bicycle generators to power their boat. In keeping with their green mission, the crew plans to grow some of their own food in a vertical garden attached to the main mast.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
60ft Plastiki Sets Sail from San Francisco (by Erick Simonson, Sail World)
Boat of Plastic to Set Sail with Environmental Message (by Rachel Oliver, CNN)
Island of Plastic Trash Twice the Size of Texas (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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