Plastiki at SIMS
In July 2011, SIMS was delighted to host a lecture by David de Rothschild after his arrival in Sydney aboard Plastiki, an 18 foot catamaran made from over 12,500 discarded bottles. David and his crew entertained attendees with an insight into life aboard the Plastiki on her voyage from San Francisco to Sydney, and importantly communicated the vision behind this amazing journey.
David is the founder of Adventure Ecology, an environmental advocacy organisation that harnesses the power of dreams, adventures and stories in order to inspire, educate and activate individuals, communities and businesses to start moving towards a smarter more sustainable way of living and acting.
His mission aboard the Plastiki was to highlight cleanup issues and sustainable plastic technologies. The Pacific is littered with rubbish, including the North Pacific Gyre where there is a vast concentration of plastics, chemical sludge and other debris that have been trapped by the currents. It is estimated that plastics make up between 60% and 80% of total marine pollution.
David’s view is to recognise “that waste is fundamentally a design flaw – it does not appear in nature. It’s about rethinking waste as a resource.” The inspiration for the Plastiki came from a United Nations Environment Program report “Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Deep Waters and High Seas”. This plus Thor Heyerdahl’s epic 1947 expedition, The Kon-Tiki. Two of Thor Heyerdahl’s grand- children sailed with David on the Plastiki.
The mission of Plastiki was to beat waste by thinking smart and showcasing how waste can be used as a valuable resource. The Plastiki is engineered almost entirely from 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles that provide 68% of the boat’s buoyancy.
A unique plastic recyclable material made from srPET makes up her superstructure. The mast is reclaimed aluminium irrigation pipe and the sail is hand-made from recycled PET cloth.
Renewable energy systems include solar panels, wind and trailing propeller turbines, bicycle generators, a urine to water recovery system and a rain water catchment system.
For more information visit www.plastiki.com
