Plastic Fantastic Spreads The Word

It just goes to show what you can achieve, if you put your mind to it. A catamaran made of 12,500 recycled plastic bottles arrived in Sydney this week after sailing 15,000km across the Pacific, to draw attention to plastic pollution. The Plastiki, held together with sugar cane and cashew glue, is proof that rubbish can be turned into something useful. More than 13,000 pieces of plastic litter the surface of each square kilometre of ocean, about the same amount that made up the boat. The Plastiki website contains alot of interesting information about the journey...
Skipper David de Rothschild and his crew of scientists sailed through the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating man-made disaster twice the size of Texas, located between California and Hawaii. For more on these floating garbage patches, click here...
People who don't properly recycle plastic, or simply throw it away, are responsible for the ocean pollution. Plastic dropped on the ground is blown into storm drains, sewage systems and rivers, which eventually carry it to the ocean. Merchant ships, ferries, cruise liners and fishing vessels that lose plastic or throw waste overboard are also responsible.
This is a global problem – pollution of these oceans can and does happen everywhere: it's everyone's responsibility to clean it up. The fact that plastic pollution in oceans is increasing shows that people, companies and governments need to change the way they think about and use plastic. Plastic is useful but often not necessary: the more disposable a product, the more of a problem it is.
How much do you recycle? Could you do better? Will you try?