70 Pure Freude an Wasser MAN ON A MISSION Explorer environmentalist and entrepreneur David de Rothschild is a busy man We talk to him about his three pronged approach and his newest environmental project David de Rothschild is not what you expect when you think of an environmentalist From his natty chilled out dress sense to his exu berant attitude to the exploring the world the 39 year old British explorer is a million airmiles away from the strict preachy atmosphere that often accompanies nature s biggest champi ons I don t think I have ever thought of it as something that I entered into this member of the Rothschild banking family explains I ve just always had a deep passion and a curiosity for the natural world His mission is to make the world a better place where nature is taken more seriously as a force in our lives A case in point His 8 000 mile voyage across the Pacific aboard the Plastiki a catamaran con structed using approximately 12 500 discarded plastic bottles held together with glue made of cashew nuts and sugar The boat was a true feat of sustainable technological engineering designed with cradle to cradle philosophy by Andrew Dovell using solar panels and bicycle generators as renewable energy sources The environmentally conscious explorer mas terminded this maritime journey from San Francisco to Sydney in 2010 in order to draw attention to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch a gyre of rubbish thrown away by humans that has converged into a vortex in the middle of the Pacific The intention was to elevate and celebrate the ocean while also bringing at tention to our toxic love affair with disposable plastic de Rothschild says Needless to say this manmade trash conglomeration has had a horrendous effect on wildlife particularly sea turtles and the black footed albatross By using only reclaimed materials to make this crossing de Rothschild showed that traveling to the world s furthest corners can be a part of an eco friendly lifestyle and that innova tion in sustainability can be part of human endeavor on every level I wanted to show that if we can think outside of the box or boat then we can solve this silly problem Anything is possible TEXT DELPHINE SAINT JEAN The Plastiki s fully sustainable design with solar panels and bicycle generators as renewable energy sources was created by leading naval architect Andrew Dovell P ho to s p 7 0 Lu ca B ab in i p 7 1 B ra d To rc hi a fo r M R P O R TE R

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