Good Evening Superforest!
Here on Superforest we’ve brought you some epic tales of our dear old pal, plastic. We’ve talked about replacing single use plastics with greener alternatives, given you the staggering facts on bottled water and suggested trying to see plastic through a different lens, as it is all around us already. I think the general consensus that we’ve reached thus far is that some plastic can be useful, some innovative, and some extremely harmful to our environment. The good and evil of plastic, if you will. To add to our ongoing analysis of all that is plastic, I give you The Plastiki: a boat made from 12,500 plastic bottles!
This boat was the brainchild of David de Rothschild and his team at Adventure Ecology. David is a British eco-adventurer who seems to be a bit of a green celebrity and a man of science and innovation with the audacity to follow his passions. The Bear Grylls of environmental activism, perhaps? With his devilishly handsome looks and passion for environmental issues, David has conducted many adventures, expeditions and projects to spread the message of working together for a healthier planet. His latest adventure is The Plastiki: a boat made almost entirely out of plastic that is meant to sail from San Francisco to Sydney in an attempt to prove that we can start to rethink waste and start seeing it as a resource. The mission is also to spread awareness about the number of plastic bottles that do get discarded, and how they affect our health, our water and our environment.
Some facts about the Plastiki:
- it is made almost entirely of 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles
- it is bonded partially with an all natural glue made from cashew nuts and sugar cane
- it will function entirely off the grid
- it has a hydroponic vertical garden on board
The Plastiki adventure hasn’t begun yet, but you will be able to track the voyage online. I encourage you to explore Adventure Ecology’s website, it is very inspiring, artistic and very Superforesty, I might add!
Learning about this adventure got me thinking: what can we as Superforesters do in our own environment to help reduce waste from plastic water bottles, or other types of plastic? Some of this is probably not new to you, but I thought I’d create a quick list:
- Get your own reusable, stainless steel water bottle or thermos. I use a thermos so I can use it for hot or cold beverages, but having one for hot, one for cold is always great too!
- Bring a mug from home to work to refill your water throughout the day. This also gives you a chance to express yourself in your workplace through your choice of mug.
- Hold a screening of a relevant film that discusses plastic, plastic water bottles, bottled water, the eastern garbage patch, or any other relevant issue regarding plastic waste in our world.
- Create art installations or functional projects of your own to make a statement about single use plastics, while also reusing them!
- Clean up your environment. Perfect example: Superforester April’s contribution to cleaning up Australia!
In a related story, this morning while I was out walking, I saw a guy toting a case of apple juices, perhaps for a work meeting or event, and I thought to myself: “Wow! Look at all that useless packaging!” Each juice individually contained in its own bottle, then set in cardboard and wrapped in more plastic to hold the case together. So much waste, when really all he needed to do was buy one large bottle of juice, and ask each person to bring a mug from home.
There is so much to say on this topic, so let’s keep the discussion going! One thing that is clear to me is that we all have the power to vote with our dollars every time we make a purchase. We can reduce how many single use plastics or items with excessive packaging are consumed. Think before you buy! The Plastiki is just another amazing use of plastic that will bring more light on the importance of healing our environment. Bravo to Mr. de Rothschild and his crew — I hope they have a successful voyage!
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