Plastiki expedition

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The plastiki after the expedition as a showpiece in the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbor , Australia

The Plastiki Expedition is an environmental campaign by David de Rothschild , with which the crew wants to draw attention to the threat to the oceans from plastic waste .

background

With his trip, de Rothschild demonstrates against the pollution of the oceans with plastic waste. The waste comes in part from the waste of ships' crews. But the largest proportion in terms of quantity is transported into the oceans via rivers. Since this waste does not decompose, but only disintegrates into smaller or microscopic parts, it poses a major threat to marine fauna. The plastic particles enter the stomachs of fish, marine mammals, turtles and sea birds via the food chain . Persistent pollutants end up in humans via fish . According to UNEP spokeswoman Elizabeth Guilbaud-Cox in Sausalito, plastics, especially in the form of bags and PET bottles, make up around 80 percent of all garbage in the world's oceans.

The ship crossed the during the expedition Garbage Patch Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Northeast Pacific, the proportions of Texas has reached. It is one of six known giant garbage whirlpools in the world's oceans. There are up to 200,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometer floating on the sea surface. Most of them are less than one centimeter in diameter. It has been proven today that this is more and more granulated and thus also enters the food chain .

expedition

Initially planned Rothschild 28 April 2009, the anniversary of the Kon-Tiki - Expedition , with a raft of plastic bottles and recycled materials the Pacific Ocean from North America to Australia to sail. At the beginning of March 2010, after three years of preparation, his catamaran Plastiki was finally ready. On March 21st at 9:30 a.m. local time, the Plastiki with Rothschild and his crew set off in Sausalito , California , towards Sydney . After a good four months, the catamaran reached Sydney Harbor on July 26th.

Thor Heyerdahl's grandson , a Norwegian biologist, accompanied the expedition on part of the route .

The expedition was accompanied by modern media exploitation. The crew runs a blog on the expedition's homepage and provides background reports and links. The trip was accompanied by a documentary filmmaker from National Geographic . A number of large companies are among the sponsors of the expedition.

Web links

Commons : Plastiki  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sailing trip for the environment - "Plastiki" is ready to go , dpa report from February 27, 2010
  2. ↑ Utopia.de: Traumschiff aus Plastikflaschen , March 1, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  3. ↑ FAZ.NET : Sailing trip for the environment. On 12,000 plastic bottles to Australia , March 21, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  4. ↑ RP-Online: Sailboat made of plastic bottles at the destination , apn report
  5. ↑ Plastic bottle ship has crossed the Pacific , Spiegel Online , July 26, 2010