A BOAT MADE FROM 'RUBBISH'
Inspired by this rather ambitious project, and equipped with very little knowledge of boats, I have decided to have a go at building my own boat from plastic bottles and aluminium drinks cans. I estimate that I'll need approximately 3000 bottles and 2000 cans to complete the project which has steadily grown in size and ambition since it began at the end of 2011.
WHY?
We humans create an incredible amount of stuff that we use just once and then throw away. The average useful lifespan of a given item (often a packet containing some other stuff) could be as short as only a few minutes before it ends up in a rubbish bin.
Having long been a lover of all things wild and natural, albeit a somewhat distracted one in recent history - I followed a number of detours and tangents to get to where I am today - I am continually frustrated by our wasteful attitudes and dismayed to see evidence of our collective carelessness in even the most unexpected and remote locations... and then there's the stuff we can't see.
A significant proportion of this pollution is plastic.
Plastic has had, and still does have some extremely good uses. Most of us will use something made, at least in part, of plastic, many times in any given day - televisions, fridges, microwaves, computers, phones, cameras, cars, hair dryers, coffee cups, watches, bottles, clothes, and plenty of other things we take for granted, but the problem is that like so many other materials before it, plastic hasn't been disposed of (re-used) as well as it should have been, and it doesn't decompose and return to the earth as a useful natural resource.
Every piece of plastic that has ever been made since it's invention, still exists today in some form, and we are producing more of it every day. None of it is useful to the natural world, and a large amount of it is buried in the ground or floating around in the ocean (take a close look at the high tide line the next time you're at the beach) where, at best it's ugly, and at worst, it's damaging ecosystems and threatening our health.
It's also another product of the petrochemical industry increasing our dependence on oil, but lets not get started on that here!
Plastic bottles is one thing we are not short of in Lanzarote. With no fresh water on the island, desalinated sea water is the staple and most people prefer to trust the bottled variety over tap water - yes for now, me included - but the more I find out about plastic and waste in general, the more eager I am to move away from dependence on bottles and even from mains-supplied water (see this idea for a future project)
SO, in order to satisfy a need for an adventure with a purpose, I thought I'd have a crack at building my own boat with easily obtainable materials that might otherwise have ended their useful existence prematurely.
WHAT
I have chosen to go for a catamaran design mostly because it looks cool, but also because I'm guessing that it will be easier to keep upright than a single hull.
I'm following ideas, not plans, and as I progress the project evolves. It may have begun as a modest leisure sailing craft but I think that now it's becoming something much bigger, and I would very much like to finish with a sea-worthy craft capable of, at the very least, coastal sailing... and hopefully more!! There's a lot that I want to see out there, I'm very tired of flying, and very keen to reduce to a minimum the most polluting aspects of my life.
I would also like to think that I can inspire a few people to chase their dreams or make some positive changes to the way they interact with the world. This is a more challenging aspect of this project and ultimately the most important part.
I hope you enjoy following my progress, and please feel free to comment, discuss, ask a question, chip in with your own stories or otherwise express yourself in the forum below. Thanks already to the friends who've contributed to the idea, I'll let you know which bits worked and which bits didn't!
WHY?
We humans create an incredible amount of stuff that we use just once and then throw away. The average useful lifespan of a given item (often a packet containing some other stuff) could be as short as only a few minutes before it ends up in a rubbish bin.
Having long been a lover of all things wild and natural, albeit a somewhat distracted one in recent history - I followed a number of detours and tangents to get to where I am today - I am continually frustrated by our wasteful attitudes and dismayed to see evidence of our collective carelessness in even the most unexpected and remote locations... and then there's the stuff we can't see.
A significant proportion of this pollution is plastic.
Plastic has had, and still does have some extremely good uses. Most of us will use something made, at least in part, of plastic, many times in any given day - televisions, fridges, microwaves, computers, phones, cameras, cars, hair dryers, coffee cups, watches, bottles, clothes, and plenty of other things we take for granted, but the problem is that like so many other materials before it, plastic hasn't been disposed of (re-used) as well as it should have been, and it doesn't decompose and return to the earth as a useful natural resource.
Every piece of plastic that has ever been made since it's invention, still exists today in some form, and we are producing more of it every day. None of it is useful to the natural world, and a large amount of it is buried in the ground or floating around in the ocean (take a close look at the high tide line the next time you're at the beach) where, at best it's ugly, and at worst, it's damaging ecosystems and threatening our health.
It's also another product of the petrochemical industry increasing our dependence on oil, but lets not get started on that here!
Plastic bottles is one thing we are not short of in Lanzarote. With no fresh water on the island, desalinated sea water is the staple and most people prefer to trust the bottled variety over tap water - yes for now, me included - but the more I find out about plastic and waste in general, the more eager I am to move away from dependence on bottles and even from mains-supplied water (see this idea for a future project)
SO, in order to satisfy a need for an adventure with a purpose, I thought I'd have a crack at building my own boat with easily obtainable materials that might otherwise have ended their useful existence prematurely.
WHAT
I have chosen to go for a catamaran design mostly because it looks cool, but also because I'm guessing that it will be easier to keep upright than a single hull.
I'm following ideas, not plans, and as I progress the project evolves. It may have begun as a modest leisure sailing craft but I think that now it's becoming something much bigger, and I would very much like to finish with a sea-worthy craft capable of, at the very least, coastal sailing... and hopefully more!! There's a lot that I want to see out there, I'm very tired of flying, and very keen to reduce to a minimum the most polluting aspects of my life.
I would also like to think that I can inspire a few people to chase their dreams or make some positive changes to the way they interact with the world. This is a more challenging aspect of this project and ultimately the most important part.
I hope you enjoy following my progress, and please feel free to comment, discuss, ask a question, chip in with your own stories or otherwise express yourself in the forum below. Thanks already to the friends who've contributed to the idea, I'll let you know which bits worked and which bits didn't!
INTERESTING LINKS
THE PLASTIKI PLASTIC IN THE OCEAN SOME GOOD NEWS OTHER WATER LINKS
PLASTIC BOTTLE SCHOOLS KONTIKI BOAT ART FIJI WATER
