The Plastic Challenge

The Plastiki Challenge

Why is there a team of young adventures out in the middle of the Pacific sailing a boat made of recycled materials? Why Plastiki?

Because:

• It is estimated that almost all of the marine pollution in the world is comprised of plastic materials. The average proportion varied between 60% and 80% of total marine pollution.
• In many regions in the northern and southern Gyres, plastic materials constitute as much as 90 to 95% of the total amount of marine debris (see The Great Garbage Patch)
• Scientists estimate that every year at least 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die when they entangle themselves in plastic pollution or ingest it.
• According to Project Aware, 15 billion pounds of plastic are produces in the U.S. every year, and only 1 billion pounds are recycled. It is estimated that in excess of 38 billion plastic bottles and 25 million Styrofoam cups end up in landfill and although plastic bottles are 100% recyclable, on average only 20% are actually recycled.

"It’s about recognizing that waste is fundamentally a design flaw (it does not appear in nature) It’s about re-thinking waste as a resource. It’s about cyclical ‘cradle-to-cradle’ philosophies rather than linear thinking when it comes to how we design our world. It’s about a better understanding of the lifecycle’s and materials used in our everyday lives."

"It’s about encouraging the world to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink more of the planets natural resources. It’s about delivering a spectacular global “Message in a Bottle.”

Want to learn more about what you can do for The Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the reality of plastic waste... visit The Garbage Patch