ENGINEERING & HUMANITY WEEK CELEBRATES

A

1-of-a-kind boat

… for 12,500 reasons

The Plastiki.

Made of 12,500 reclaimed 2-liter plastic drink bottles and other recycled materials, this innovative 60-foot (18 meters), twin-hulled catamaran is called…

British adventurer and ecologist

David de Rothschild and his team built it to increase awareness of the pollution of the world’s largest natural resource—the oceans’ waters.

For buoyancy the bottles were filled with powdered dry

ice and sealed to re-expand with carbon

dioxide and thus float.

The bottles were

joined together with

Earth Weld, an earth-

friendly bonding

agent the Plastiki

team developed

using sugar and

cashews.

The frame

is made of woven

plastic, held together

with heat-welded tape

and steel bolts.

Masts and sails

are two reclaimed irrigation

pipes and recycled PET bottles.

is generated by wind turbines on each stern, solar panels on the cabin, submerged turbines near the rudders and two mounted exercise bikes.

Power

Plastiki facts

• Weight: 12 tons

• Height: 59.7 feet (18.2 meters)

• Average distance per day: 200 miles (322

kilometers)

Sailing a ‘statement’ David made maritime

history in 2010 when

he and his small crew

sailed his recycled

boat 8,000 miles

across the Pacific. His

expedition was an

engineering first and

brought global

attention to the South

Pacific garbage patch.

For his commitment to our planet,

David de Rothschild is being

honored with a 2013 Visionary

Award from the Hunt Institute for

Engineering and Humanity.

For more information, and to

take the pledge to stop using

plastic bags and bottles, visit

www.myplastiki.com.

All images used with permission and copyrighted by “The Plastiki.”