Plastiki – A Catamaran Made from Plastic Bottles

Has anyone heard of a catamaran made-up of using after-used plastic PET bottles? Plastiki is one such catamaran which is made-up of 12,000 consumer-used PET bottles and which has undertaken a 8,000 nautical mile journey from San Francisco to Sydney to identify and deal with the problem of eco-contamination.

Plastiki is the creation and innovation of British adventurer David de Rothschild, who along with Jo Royle and Olav Heyerdahl led the 100-days expedition to study, identify and tag the problem of pollution of the seas and the oceans due to plastic. The concept of Plastiki taking a tour across the Pacific was a unique journey indeed as it meant getting to know the extent of marine pollution caused due to plastic junk and trash.

And this is the main reason why the catamaran and its journey are getting accolades. Unlike most of us, who prefer to watch the marine pollution happening around us and deal with it passively, the crew of Plastiki has taken an active step to tackle the problem firsthand. Additionally, by asking more members to join its cause of cleaning up the oceans and the seas, Plastiki is on the course of setting up a success story in a completely different manner.

The route taken by Plastiki includes travelling through the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, a highly concentrated area of plastic in the deep North Pacific Ocean. The amount of plastic trash that is accumulated in this garbage patch and Plastiki’s firsthand effort to make the viewers and activists aware of the piling garbage is indeed worth appreciating.

The consideration that Plastiki was made out of plastic bottles is yet another mentionable fact. The catamaran could be an example as to the non-biodegradable aspect of plastics and the amount of damage it could cause to the marine flora and fauna. By using a material like plastic the relevance and the purpose of Plastiki’s marine adventure could very well be connected by the masses across the world.

In the entire course of its travel, Plastiki has managed to convey its message and its intents to the public, thus encouraging them to actively stop using plastic and switch over to other bio-degradable items. In its 100-day travel, Plastiki and its crew not only managed to view for themselves the ill-effects of plastic non-decomposition but also by the help of modern communication technology, sent it across to the rest of the world to experience the consequences of plastic as a commodity used in day-to-day affairs.

Through its journey of travelling across the Pacific, Plastiki has managed to reach out to the people. The benefits of Plastiki making its presence known throughout the world would be that the catamaran and its crew will be known and appreciated for their active interest and participation to solve and beat the threat of plastic non-decomposition in our ecology and environment.

In a bid to make the world aware of its shortcomings, Plastiki has managed to carve a unique niche for itself in the pages of environmental history. The example of Plastiki and its crew, therefore, would always be given when it comes to effort taken by people to successfully combat with the problems that development in science and technology poses to the rest of the living beings.

If you liked this article, you may also like to read- Effect of Rising sea level & Effect of marine pollution.

References: theplastiki, cnn

Tags: catamaran marine pollution oceans Pacific Ocean pollution