http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/the-12-000-bottle-boat-3962/Overview#tab-Overview

31 million tons of plastic, an incredible amount, are annually discarded, just in the U.S.A. ,much of waste of it finishing up in by being thrown into the seas, massively destructive to all kinds of marine life, from turtles, many of which die from swallowing too much of what looks like jellyfish, their usual diet, to dolphins.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/the-12-000-bottle-boat-3962/Overview#tab-Overview 

Explorer  and notable adventure-seeker Derek de Rothschild found a unique way to get people concentrating on the catastrophic environmental impact this has, overwhelming the ability of marine life to cope Out of 12,500 plastic bottles, in an a very innovative move, he put together a six-person catamaran sailing it, with a dedicated crew, across the Pacific Ocean for eight thousand miles, in a voyage reminding people of the Kon-Tiki expedition.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/the-12-000-bottle-boat-3962/Overview#tab-Overview 

Some believed it impossible to build a seaworthy craft more or less completely from recyclable materials, but Derek de Rothschild and naval architect Andy Dovell proved that such skeptics were all wrong, when they unveiled the craft, the aptly named Pastiki, with a hull made with new recyclable plastic , over 65% of the buoyancy provided by plastic bottles..

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http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/the-12-000-bottle-boat-3962/Overview#tab-Overview

Giving those bottles the strength required for buoyancy and structural purposes, small amounts of dry ice were inserted into each, pressurized them with CO2 gas, a mast made of 9recycled aluminum, sails from plastic trash that had been re-purposed, so that an extremely environmentally-friendly craft emerged, made even more so with the use of Solar panels, wind turbines and energy bikes for creating reusable energy en route

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/the-12-000-bottle-boat-3962/Overview#tab-Overview

Completing  the 8,000 mile voyage, taking the adventurous crew from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia took a grueling 128 days, attracting environmental attention at every stage of the journey. Ocean acidification, global warming and those awful oceans of plastic trash that infest seas around the world must dealt with this,generation or pristine areas will vanish from our earth forever

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/the-12-000-bottle-boat-3962/Overview#tab-Overview

The National Geographic Channel will be screening a program dedicated to this incredible voyage on April 21st at 8pm, definitely one to watch. It is adventures like this memorable journey that help to keep us mindful of our roles on this planet, not just as consumers, but also guardians of the future, which needs to be a whole lot greener, for all our sakes.. 

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/the-12-000-bottle-boat-3962/Overview#tab-Overview

All images used with permission.