Plastiki Eco-Expedition: Raising Awareness about Waste and Illustrating Green Careers

On March 22, 2010, the Plastiki, a ship constructed out of 12,500 post-consumer plastic bottles and other recycled materials, set sail from San Francisco on an eco-adventure to call attention to the issues associated with garbage that ends up in the ocean.

Last weekend, after 128 days at sea, the Plastiki made landfall in Sydney, Australia, 8,000 nautical miles from where they started.

At first glance you might think of this project as a personal mission or an inspirational adventure. In actuality, the people who took this voyage were doing their jobs!

Adventure Ecology, the company behind this expedition and several others before it, takes on a specific cause and creates an adventure that brings attention and awareness to critical issues. Each expedition is a collaboration of many people doing their work.

The expedition leaders, coordinators, and sailing crew
The film makers and photographers on board to document the eco-adventure.

Each of the scientists who joined the crew for one leg of the journey to study how the marine debris impacts marine life.

The team of experts who came together to conceive of, design, prototype, test, and build the yacht (Story of Plastiki - fascinating!).

The support team on shore that included someone tracking the weather and helping to plan the journey.

A tech team had to be involved to ensure that the technologically advanced equipment was in tip top shape and remained so.

The marketing/publicity team - although not named on the site - had to develop the site, update the site and social networking messages, and line up publicity and media appearances.

The corporate sponsors who work with the expedition to provide technology and technical support.

And there may be other people behind the scenes who aren't referenced or imagined!

Now I know what you are thinking. I can't possibly work for a company like this! Too risky, too out there, too non-traditional, won't pay enough...and so on.

All of your assumptions may be true or it could be that some of these roles would be a perfect fit for you in another cause that aligns with your passions.

More on the Plastiki Message

Beyond the adventure, Plastiki's mission is to open people's minds to a new way to think about, use, and dispose of plastic and all waste. Beyond just recycling. Beyond reusing. But rethinking design to eliminate waste from the equation.

If you question whether this is really a problem...take a look at these facts garnered from the Plastiki website.

Did you know:

Within the United States, 15 billion pounds of plastic are produced on an annual basis. According to Project Aware, only 7% of the plastic is recycled and 10% are carried by waterways into the ocean.

You may already know of the Northern Pacific Garbage Patch where plastic debris has collected in an area that's said to be twice the size of Texas...but did you there are four other gyres in the other major oceans of the world?

Ninety percent of the pollution in the ocean is plastic! 80% of this plastic is from land-based trash. The other 20% is debris from ships.

Plastic doesn't decompose...it just breaks down into smaller and smaller and smaller bits. 61% of the plastic bits are less than one millimeter in diameter. These bits swirl in the ocean or sink to the bottom of the sea.

Those same bits look like food to marine life. Wildlife of all shapes and sizes eat plastic bits. When we eat marine life, we too are ingesting the plastic...and the water-borne chemicals that are attracted to the bits of plastic.

How Can You Be Part of the Solution?

Waste is a topic we can all get involved with!

You can change your personal purchasing patterns and recycling habits or you can contribute to how your company handles waste.

Or if you have the training or inclination, you make it your career to find new solutions to:

Modify designs and packaging to minimize waste

Redesign manufacturing processes to eliminate or reuse waste

Create new uses for abundant waste resources

Invent new packaging materials that decompose

Educate residents about new waste management systems

Manage more extensive waste management systems

Advocate for new waste management systems

Develop a marketing campaign to make people more aware of recycling program for a company's products.