brian came across this article in the october 2008 national geographic.INNOVATION & DESIGN: VOYAGE OF THE PLASTIKI — National Geographic Adventure Contributing Editor Paul Kvinta talks one-on-one with explorer David de Rothschild about his proposed 7,500-mile trans-Pacific journey from San Francisco to Sydney aboard the Plastiki — a 60-foot, rudderless raft made of plastic bottles. Navigating through a man-made disaster called the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating landfill located between California and Hawaii that's twice the size of Texas, de Rothschild wants to demonstrate the unlikely and amazing things people can achieve when they recycle their junk — and to show what happens when they don't. De Rothschild's grand vision includes swapping out crew, marine biologists, anthropologists, even celebrities such as Johnny Depp and Jack Johnson, for different legs of the journey. Is the young Brit pursuing one of the most visionary expeditions yet proposed, or has he gone off the deep end? "There's a risk in everything," says environmentalist de Rothschild. "But, really, how hard can it be? ... We have got to attract people's attention. Our oceans are out of sight and out of mind, but they're facing enormous changes because of what we've done." Page 66.
eastern pacific garbage patch? we had never even heard of it. it’s pretty unbelievable. there has already been lots of good reasons to stop buying water in plastic bottles....but this tops them all. and there is a lot of information online...but i did find a really nice site done by the 2007-2008 fifth grade class at mount madonna school in california. and this one is pretty informative as well.
