I know, I’m Canadian so I am supposed to say aboot, but I’ve been away quite a while.
Anyway, the guy building the boat out of plastic bottles and sailing it across the Pacific is a silly grandstander and his goal of boosting recycling is just an excuse. The percentage at which plastic is diverted to recycling has plateaued in the single digits. Reducing and reusing are much more important endeavors and unfortunately they aren’t very exciting.
CNN is covering this guy’s stunt. Where were they when I decided to stop using disposable razors? (ok, so that was the day that Ali Hassan al-Majid received his death sentence in Iraq.)
Where was CNN when I stopped drinking bottled water (again) and started drinking filtered tap water? (ok, that day Iceland appointed the world’s first openly gay head of government.)
Maybe someday I will make a change in my life that reduces plastic consumption on a REALLY slow news day.
March 9th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Your problem is that you cannot construct a seaworthy or airworthy vessel out of disposable razors in order to make any kind of point.
Hmmm…. now perhaps I could fill enough plastic grocery bags with helium to lift me into the air. I could float across the continent for my own cause!
March 10th, 2009 at 8:00 am
And where were they when I started using baking soda as deodorant and cooking my cats’ food from scratch? Huh? I have no idea what was going on in the news those days and I’m too tired from all my plastic-free efforts to look it up.
Seriously though, where were they when Marcus Eriksen, an actual marine biologist, really did build a raft out of bottles… not recycled bottles but actual bottles… and sailed out to the North Pacific Gyre last year? (http://www.junkraft.com/) The Algalita Marine Research Foundation… the folks actually responsible to discovering and publicizing this issue… is scrounging for money. Why are the celebs not coming out for them???
Some friends and I were just discussing this very issue yesterday. So this morning, I emailed De Rothschilde’s organization through their web site. I asked the same question… are they going to promote reduction or simply recycling? Haven’t heard back yet. I’ll let you know if I do. They are building the boat so near me in SF, I could just run down there and see if I can catch him!
March 10th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Now that I have seen that CNN did not post my comment on the article, I will mention my key point here. There is a less than remote chance that Mr.De Rothschilde will need the services of the US Coast Guard or another search and rescue service. If this occurs, he will be responsible for a lot of fossil fuel consumption and a lot of other costs. I don’t think awareness is the bottleneck with recycling anymore, anyway.