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The Good Route: Plastiki Sailing Toward Plastic Sea

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Finally. After four years spent designing, re-designing and building a ship like no other, Eco-adventurer David de Rothschild, his crew, and 12,000 plastic bottles set sail on March 20, bound for Sydney, by way of the Eastern Garbage Patch and its vortex of plastic crap. The swirling mass of garbage (everything from bottles to polystyrene) is believed to be twice the size of Texas.

They are undertaking the trip, which should last about three months, to bring attention to the . They'll spend their time aboard the Plastiki–a seriously –collecting and sharing (through heavy web documentation) evidence of our failure to properly recycle or dispose of waste, and of the damage this in inflicting on ocean life.

Four days into the journey, the boat is now more than 300 nautical miles from its San Francisco launch point and has endured some heavy seas and strong winds, as well as a tangle with a crab pot. You can follow all the action from the and de Rothschild's .

— is a freelance writer, covering the environment, sustainability and outdoor recreation. The Good Route, her blog for ϳԹ Online, is focused on the places where the active life and sustainability merge.

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