The Plastiki is a 60-foot (18 m) catamaran made out of 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles and other recycled PET plastic and waste products. The craft was built using cradle to cradle design philosophies and features many renewable energy systems, including solar panels, wind and trailing propeller turbines, and bicycle generators. The frame was designed by Australian naval architect Andrew Dovell. The boat's name is a play on the 1947 Kon-Tiki raft used to sail across the Pacific by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, and its voyage roughly followed the same route.

On March 20, 2010, the sailing vessel set off from San Francisco, California to cross the Pacific Ocean with a crew of six:

1. British skipper Jo Royle,

2. co-skipper David Thompson,

3. expedition diver Olav Heyerdahl,

4., 5. filmmakers Max Jourdan and Vern Moen, and

6. expedition leader David de Rothschild.

The expedition projected landfall in Sydney, Australia and included plans to visit several sites en route of ecological importance or which were susceptible to environmental issues caused by global warming, for instance the current sea level rise, ocean acidification and marine pollution.

Plastiki arrived in Sydney Harbour on July 26, 2010, accompanied by a small flotilla of boats. Shortly afterwards, it was towed to the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, where it was on display until late August.

12,500 plastic bottles saved enough energy to power a 60 watt light bulb for 625/73 years, a CFL for 29,853/607,360 years, 25/112 tons of plastic, 24,075/26 kwh of energy, 46,843,750/12,524,271 gallons of oil, a 11,908/13,361,625 cubic meter lake from being polluted, 4,815/104 metric tons of limestone

(25/112 tons of plastic could save a 1,125/28 cubic meter lake, 185/112 cubic yards of landfill space almost 25/112 tons of black gold, 72,175/56 kWh of energy, 17,125/112 gallons of oil, 21,875,000 Btu's of energy, a 15/112 cubic meter container of petroleum, enough energy to heat over 15/64 homes, (3,125-6,250)/14 gallons of gasoline, enough oil to run the average car for 256,875/112 miles or circle the globe almost 171,250 times, a 32,109,375/7 cubic meter lake and 17,125/28 acres of soil from being polluted, enough water to fill 3/190 olympic sized swimming pools, $131.25 in energy)

That means that 1,250 people used one reusable bottle

See alsoEdit

• Plastic recycling
• Bottle recycling
• EcoARK