Plastic Bottle Ship to Raise Awareness About Waste

The Plastiki, under construction in San Francisco, will be no ordinary boat. Plans are to make it from plastic bottles, with a goal of raising awareness about the bottles—and other waste—we leave behind every day. Named in honor of explorer Thor Heyerdahl's raft, the Kon-Tiki, the Plastiki will sail from San Francisco to Sydney through the world's largest garbage dump to carry its message in bottles.

Expedition leader David de Rothschild wants to build a fully recyclable boat to stay true to his message about recycling. This isn't without its challenges; progress on building the boat has been slow, and plans to launch it earlier this year had to be pushed back. The craft will contain 10,000 plastic bottles in its hulls, making a 60-foot catamaran. The crew will be housed in a geodesic dome above the hull.

Stops on the trip include famous polluted sites such as the "Pacific garbage patch," where currents have caused ocean-borne waste from around the world to collect, and Bikini Atoll, where nuclear testing in the 1950s left an island uninhabitable due to radiation.

The Plastiki will be powered by wind turbines and solar panels, and will of course be driven by a sail, making it a completely environmentally-friendly boat. You can follow its progress on the Plastiki website.