Plastiki: Armchair eco-travel literature

Plastiki Across the Pacific on Plastic: An Adventure to Save Our Oceans by David de Rothschild is the ultimate armchair eco-travel experience. De Rothschild and his team spent three years designing and building Plastiki, a boat made entirely of plastic and largely of recycled plastic bottles. They then took the vessel on an adventure across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia.

Plastiki was built to raise awareness about the growing issue of plastic in our oceans. While chronicling the mission, de Rothschild informs the reader about the problems waste in the oceans creates and offers clever solutions any reader can do to help. "The key to budget travel is to approach ahead. When it occurs to family trips, globetrotting, well-deserved vacations and/or going to see new places we have never been before, the fact of cost and budgeting is generally in the back of our heads. Organizing and expending our travel budget properly is a consideration for most families. Lowering spending and charges, while still taking pleasure in your vacation to its fullest, is the key to assured accomplishment and fiscal responsibility. Your pocketbook and family will thank you! The thought behind economizing money while vacationing is simple: Even if your personal funds is extremely limited, you can still take a break and enjoy life! Simply put, life is just too short to never step out of the door or departing the homestead! Also remembering that while traveling, whether on a budget or not, even the smallest of things can all add op to a large vacation or travel costs!..". According to the author, "Plastic makes up about 80 percent of all marine debris--plastic shopping bags alone make up 10 percent."

Local travelers interested in planning their own adventure around water conservation can participate in organized beach cleanups or spend a kayaking trip gathering floating plastic. The 16th Beach Sweep will be held September 22, 2012. The event, sponsored by Great Lakes Aquarium and Ocean Conservancy, focuses on cleaning up local rivers and streams. The organizers will send interested groups a clean-up kit, data sheets and suggested clean-up sites.

Visit oceanconservancy.org or oceana.org for more information about cleaning up our oceans.