Catamaran made of more
than 12,000 plastic bottles brings world
wake-up call on marine pollution
Nairobi, 23 July 2010 - They've
battled huge waves, fought off ocean storms
and sailed through a garbage pile the size
of Texas. This weekend, the crew of the
eco-friendly Plastiki - whose hull is made
from 12 500 recycled plastic bottles - will
enter the final leg of an epic, four-month
journey across the Pacific Ocean.
As the boat of bottles
edged towards its finishing post in Sydney,
UN Under Secretary General and UNEP Executive
Director Achim Steiner joined journalists
for a live video link-up with Plastiki expedition
leader David de Rothschild from UNEP headquarters
in Nairobi, Kenya.
Sporting a suitably
bushy sailor's beard, de Rothschild spoke
of the many challenges the crew had faced
during their four months at sea (including
giant sea swells and hurricane-like winds)
but also of their determination to raise
awareness of and action on plastic waste
in the world's oceans and seas.
"This is truly a
message on a bottle", said Mr. de Rothschild.
"We have this addiction to single-use,
throwaway plastic, which is choking up the
ecosystem. With Plastiki, we want to enlighten,
inform and inspire people and show that
there are solutions here and not just problems."
Mr. de Rothschild also
raised concern at the scarcity of marine
life his crew had observed on their journey
across the Pacific. "We've spent four
months at sea but have seen very little
fish stock and only a handful of marine
mammals", said Mr. de Rothschild. "That
is a real sign that the oceans are in desperate
need of our help."
It was also revealed
during the live link-up that the 12 500
bottles keeping Plastiki afloat and the
ship's special plastic superstructure are
held together by a revolutionary new adhesive
made from cashew nuts and sugar.
The product was developed
by the team as an environmentally-friendly
alternative to traditional, epoxy glues.
The live interview was also supported by
green energy - in the form of a Plastiki
crew member pedaling on the bicycle that
powers the boat's laptop computer.
Mr. Steiner congratulated
de Rothschild and the Plastiki crew on their
success and made a personal donation of
EUR 10 000 (USD 12 800) towards the team's
awareness-raising work on plastic waste
and marine pollution.
"Public awareness
of marine waste is growing and your journey
has motivated us into putting ever more
effort into communicating this problem and
bringing forward the solutions so urgently
needed. It is not every day that you learn
that a UNEP report has inspired such an
adventure and vitally-important voyage.
We look forward to working with you David
and your team on the Plastiki legacy over
the months and years to come," said
Mr. Steiner during the Skype link-up.
De Rothschild was inspired
to start the Plastiki project after reading
a UNEP study of marine ecosystems and biodiversity
and by fellow adventurer Thor Heyerdahl's
famous 1947 Pacific expedition on the Kon-Tiki
raft. Plastiki's ten-member crew set sail
from San Francisco in March and have been
filling their days at sea by blogging and
giving interviews on their progress so far.
In the early stages
of the voyage, the Plastiki crew sailed
through the North Pacific gyre - also known
as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and estimated
to be around the size of Texas. The gyre,
a swirling mass of marine waste, contains
some 3.5 million tons of trash and is the
largest of the world's five known gyres.
Depending on weather
conditions, Plastiki should arrive in Sydney
by 26 July. Among those ready to greet the
crew at Darling Harbour will be Ellik Adler,
a specialist in marine litter from UNEP's
Regional Office for Asia Pacific.
Mr Adler was part of
the team that that complied UNEP's 2009
report 'Marine Litter: A Global Challenge'
- the first-ever attempt to take stock of
marine litter levels on a global scale,
across 12 different regions. UNEP reports
have found that:
Over 13 000 pieces of
plastic litter are floating on every square
kilometre of ocean
Plastic accounts for
over 80% of all marine litter
Some eight million items
of marine litter are thought to enter the
world's oceans and seas every day
UNEP has since supported
and guided the development of twelve Regional
Action Plans to address the problem of marine
litter worldwide.
Together with the U.S.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
UNEP is also convening the Fifth International
Marine Debris Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii
on 20-25 March 2011. The conference will
highlight the research and allow the sharing
of strategies and best practices to assess,
reduce, and prevent the impact of marine
debris.
At the end of the live
link-up with UNEP, Mr. de Rothschild said
Plastiki's next challenge was to encourage
others to use plastics more responsibly.
Once the boat is back on dry land, Plastiki
will become a travelling exhibition raising
awareness on waste plastic and marine pollution.
"After this adventure,
Plastiki'ssecond chapter is a chapter of
change", said Mr. de Rothschild. "The
message we're sending out is 'What is your
Plastiki- What can you do to change the
world?"
For more information on Plastiki visit www.theplastiki.com
UNEP's latest reports on marine litter can
be downloaded from www.unep.org/regionalseas/marinelitter
