Plastiki, The Pop Bottle Ship, Completes Its 12,875km Voyage

Plastiki, an 18m vessel buoyed by over 12,000 two-litre plastic bottles, sailed into the Sydney Harbour today, completing a 130-day, 12,875km journey from San Francisco. A long way to travel for the 10c deposit!

The boat, which actually set sail to raise awareness about the amount of plastic debris floating around in the world’s oceans, was helmed by the British adventurer and environmentalist David de Rothschild.

The repurposed bottles, which provide nearly 80 per cent of the vessel’s buoyancy, are only one component of its sustainable design: its frame is made from a recyclable plastic, its mast from reclaimed aluminium and its sail handmade from recycled cloth. Its design also incorporates solar panels, wind turbines, bicycle generators, a hydroponic garden and a waste management system with “evaporative technology for weight reduction”. That’s dedication.

The Plastiki will be on display at Sydney’s Maritime Museum through to August 1. [Designboom]