PAUL MILLER/epa/Corbis
You’ve heard of a message in a bottle. Now there’s a message made of bottles. (via National Geographic)
The journey of Plastiki, a 60-foot boat made out of 12,500 recycled plastic bottles, came to an end Monday as the boat made a triumphant entrance into Sydney harbor, four months and 8,000 miles after it set sail from California. Plastiki’s crew, led by environmentalist David de Rothschild, conceived of the journey as a way to bring attention to the environmental impact of plastic waste on the Pacific.
Well, consider attention brought: According to The Guardian, nearly 8 million pieces pieces of trash enter the world’s oceans every day. The Pacific is home to so much garbage that a giant trash vortex twice the size of Texas has accumulated in the middle of its currents.
Plastiki’s crew visited the garbage patch, but also encountered difficulties more expected of a nautical journey: storms, blistering heat and cramped conditions. Because it is 2010, they catalogued their entire journey on Twitter, YouTube and even Flickr. The crew’s official filmmaker even chose to stay on board for the birth of his first child witnessing the occasion on Skype. Now that’s dedication to a cause.