Follow this spectacular adventure!
“SAN FRANCISCO (Monday 22 March 2010): The Plastiki began her momenteous voyage on Saturday 20 March 2010 setting sail from under San Francisco iconic golden gate bridge on an adventure that will take her crew across the Pacific Ocean to Sydney on a mission to beat waste.
Adventure Ecology founder and environmentalist David de Rothschild and his intrepid crew; Jo Royle, David Thomson, Olav Heyerdahl along with National Geographic filmmaker Max Jourdan and Myoo Media’s Vern Moen set sail at the weekend on the Plastiki, a unique 60ft catamaran engineered from approximately 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles and srPET, a fully recyclable material. An ‘off‐the‐grid’ vessel relying primarily on renewable energy systems, the Plastiki and her crew will journey more than 11,000 nautical miles drawing attention to the health of our oceans, in particular the colossal amounts of plastic debris, by showcasing waste as a resource and demonstrating real world solutions through the design and construction of the Plastiki.
The Plastiki began her adventure nearly four years ago after taking inspiration from a report issued by UNEP called ‘Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Deep Waters and High Seas’ and Thor Heyerdahl’s epic 1947 expedition, The Kon‐Tiki. True to Adventure Ecology’s values, a compelling and pioneering expedition was needed that would not only inform, but would also captivate, activate and educate the world that waste is fundamentally inefficient design. With more efficient design and a smarter understanding of how we use materials, principally plastic, waste can be transformed into a valuable resource, in turn helping to lessen our plastic fingerprints on the world’s oceans. The Plastiki expedition took influence from the principles of ‘cradle‐to‐cradle’ design and biomimicry before being realized by a multifaceted team from the fields of marine science, sustainable design, boat building, architecture and material science. The journey to date has generated opportunity for tremendous curiosity, discovery and innovation as well as a platform for discussion, debate and action.
THE PLASTIKI:
– The Plastiki is engineered almost entirely from 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles that provide 68% of the boat’s buoyancy.
– A unique recyclable plastic material made from srPET makes up her super structure
– The mast is a reclaimed aluminum irrigation pipe
– The one‐of‐a‐kind sail is hand‐made from recycled PET cloth
– The secondary bonding is reinforced using a newly developed organic glue made from cashew nuts and sugar cane
– The Plastiki is ‘off‐the‐grid’ relying primarily on renewable energy systems including; solar panels, wind and trailing propeller turbines, bicycle generators, a urine to water recovery and rain water catchment system and a hydroponic rotating cylinder garden
THE PLASTIKI’S PHILOSOPHY:
– It’s about recognizing that waste is fundamentally a design flaw (it does not appear in nature)
– It’s about re‐thinking waste as a resource
– It’s about cyclical ‘cradle‐to‐cradle’ philosophies rather than linear thinking when it comes to how we design our world
– It’s about a better understanding of the lifecycle’s and materials used in our everyday lives
– It’s about being curious and open, being prepared to let go of assumptions in order to undertake a new ‘Planet 2.0’ way of thinking and acting
– It’s about acknowledging that we don’t have all the answers and that nobody is as smart as everybody
– It’s about being collaborative and curious so to engage multiple perspectives, skills, opinions and organizations
– It’s about constantly learning, unlearning and re‐learning
– It’s about re‐integrating back into the web of life by recognizing and reducing our human fingerprints on the natural world
– It’s about moving on from just articulating the problems and inspiring action of the solutions
– It’s about encouraging the world to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink more of the planets natural resources
– It’s about delivering a spectacular global “Message in a Bottle”.
WHY?
– It is estimated that almost all of the marine pollution in the world is comprised of plastic materials. The average proportion varied between 60% and 80% of total marine pollution. (1)
– In many regions in the northern and southern Gyres, plastic materials constitute as much as 90 to 95% of the total amount of marine debris. (2)
– Scientists estimate that every year at least 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die when become entangled in plastic pollution or ingest it. (3)
– According to Project Aware, 15 billion pounds of plastic are produced in the U.S. every year, and only 1 billion pounds are recycled. It is estimated that in excess of 38 billion plastic bottles and 25 million Styrofoam cups end up in landfill and although plastic bottles are 100% recyclable, on average only 20% are actually recycled.
An artists impression of the Plastiki
The Plastiki sets sail
The 60-foot Plastiki is a catamaran that David de Rothschild hopes to use to highlight the creative possibilities of recycling waste and as well as what he sees as a fun adventure to save the environment. (Image from www.luxury-insider.com)
To follow the adventure, feed your curiosity, track the crews’ individual stories, witness the challenges that our oceans and its inhabitants face and learn what you can do for our Planet, please log into the expedition’s online mission control: www.theplastiki.com for regular updates, GPS positioning, crew blogs, photography and mini‐films.
Photography, b‐roll and press information available online at www.theplastiki.com/press
For further information please contact: press@adventureecology.com”
