Computer generated image of Plastiki, courtesy of the Plastiki Expedition

David de Rothschild is a man on a mission – literally. Sometime this summer he and a crew of experts, scientists and creatives will sail 12,000 miles from San Francisco to Sydney in a 60-foot catamaran made from plastic bottles and recycled waste products. De Rothschild hopes the experiment, dubbed the Plastiki Expedition, will raise awareness about a throwaway mentality that has created environmental disasters like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area of the ocean twice the size of Texas that is overloaded with floating trash, through which Plastiki will sail on its maiden voyage.

De Rothschild accepts the fact that plastic is probably with us to stay, commenting: “From the moment you’re born, the first thing that’s put on your wrist is a plastic bracelet, followed by a plastic bottle in your mouth. Throughout our entire lives we’re touching and feeling plastic in different forms and it would be impossible to ban plastics altogether, but what we can do is think about it in a smarter way.” In short, he wants us to begin thinking of waste as a resource.

Plans originally called for the voyage to begin in April of this year, but the vessel is still being constructed at Pier 31 in San Francisco. When completed, the Plastiki will be made of 12,500 two-liter plastic bottles; weigh 9 tons; and will Read the rest of this entry »