Adventure Ecology: The Plastiki
Adventure Ecology uses the magic and excitement of unique field missions to educate, entertain and raise awareness of environmental and social issues whilst driving innovative real world solutions.
Adventure Ecology’s long-term vision is to create a global, youth-based community of change-makers that learn, share, speak and most importantly act to address our global sustainability issues in order to promote a greater respect, connection and responsibility for our Planet, its environment, species and people.
Adventure Ecology tells adventurous stories that educate, entertain and promote a new ‘smart’ thinking for a better ‘Planet 2.0’.
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Adventure Ecology is on a mission to beat waste by thinking smart and showcasing how waste can be used as a valuable resource through our use of the everyday, highly consumed and iconic ‘pin up’, the plastic bottle.
The Plastiki is a pioneering 60-foot (18 meters) catamaran made almost entirely from post-consumer, reclaimed plastic water and soda bottles located around a rigid structural skeleton made from Seretex, a uniquely recyclable plastic.
The Plastiki is a modern vessel that has taken advantage of all available sustainable design technologies and cutting edge materials to achieve the project brief.
The Plastiki predominately relied on renewable energy sources and incorporated several innovative self-sustaining life support systems.
A large part of the buoyancy, approx 68% was provided by the bottles. These bottles were each filled with 12 grams of dry ice and then sealed. As the dry ice sublimates (turns from a solid state back to a gas) the pressure rises in the bottles to 12 bar (similar to the pressure of a lorry tyre). The bottles are fitted around the structure and held in place by a system of longitudinal PET tubes that run the length of the boat.
The sails have been made using a cloth made from recycled PET bottles.
The masts are made from reclaimed aluminium irrigation piping and consist of 98% post consumer billet.
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We supported the Plastiki expedition by providing the crew with a full range of Lifeventure kit including items from our recycled luggage range.
Read more about the expedition here.
THE JOURNEY
The Plastiki began her adventure nearly four years ago after taking inspiration from a report issued by UNEP called ‘Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Deep Waters and High Seas’ and Thor Heyerdahl’s epic 1947 expedition, The Kon-Tiki. True to Adventure Ecology’s values, a compelling and pioneering expedition was needed that would not only inform, but would also captivate, activate and educate the world that waste is fundamentally inefficient design.
With more efficient design and a smarter understanding of how we use materials, principally plastic, waste can be transformed into a valuable resource, in turn helping to lessen our plastic fingerprints on the world’s oceans.
To undertake the Plastiki expedition Adventure Ecology was not only influenced by the principles of ‘cradle-to-cradle’ design and biomimicry but brought together a multi-faceted team from the fields of sustainable design, boat building, architecture and material science in order to foster a collection of new ideas and cutting edge technologies that allow the Plastiki to be a truly unique, one-of-a-kind expedition vessel.
The Crew
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David De Rothschild David is the founder of Adventure Ecology. In 2006, David spent over 100 days crossing The Arctic, becoming one of only 42 people, and the youngest British person, to reach both geographical poles. Accolades include, National Geographic Society ‘Emerging Explorer’, The World Economic Forum ‘Young Global Leader’ and UNEP ‘Climate Hero’. |
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Jo Royle - Skipper Jo is internationally recognized as one of Europe’s leading female ocean yacht skippers. Jo has a solid full crewed and double handed racing background. Through her extensive sailing experience, which has taken her as far north as Iceland and south to Antarctica, Jo has been able to witness first‐hand the effects of global warming, which have furthered her ambitions to help bring environmental issues to the forefront of the public conscience. |
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David Thomson – Co-skipper David began his career in the field of racing sail making; this led him to be asked to sail with those whom he had made sails for. In 2003 David joined Steve Fosset’s giant catamaran ‘Playstation’ in which they established 4 world records. In 2009, David successfully became a circumnavigator on his first round the world attempt as co-skipper in the 40 foot double-handed class in the Portimao Global Ocean Race. |
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