Jan Kara, and Jakub Bures were not happy about the constant flow of garbage polluting the world’s oceans and waterways. Specially, they weren’t happy about plastic bottle pollution. Plastic constitutes about 90% of the trash that’s floating on our oceans. So, they decided to do something about it. No, they didn’t hand out fliers, or share petitions on Facebook. They decided to do something that would send a message: They built a boat out of plastic bottles and are sailing it across Europe.
Jakub Bures (left) and Honza Kara
The first step was to attach the bottles to each other. Before that though, Bures and Kara filled them with dry ice. This was done to give them extra buoyancy.
The duo used more than 50,000 bottles to construct their boat.
After the base of the boat was done, a frame was needed to the support the bottles once they were in the water.
Bures and a friend attaching a rudder to the boat frame.
They built the control mechanism of the boat from repurposed bicycle parts.
Their ultimate goal? Sail the plastic bottle boat down the Elbe River from their hometown of Nymburk in the Czech Republic, to the city of Hamburg, Germany.
The purpose of the trip down the Elba (besides adventure) is to raise awareness of plastic bottle pollution in Europe.
But would their boat actually float?
Yes it did. They set sail on July 12, 2014.
“There are lots of people who support us,” Kara told the BBC. “But there are also lots of people who are convinced we’re going to sink after 10 metres. So it’d be worth it just to prove it to them.”
The view from inside the cabin (also made of plastic bottles) looking out.
Super meta.
The total journey will be 530 miles, and has been going well so far.
No steering or other technical malfunctions.
In total they’re expecting the adventure to last a month or two before they reach Hamburg.
Here’s an approximation of their journey’s route. From Prague in the south, to Hamburg in the north.
(H/T: Business Insider) They alone won’t use up the 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile on the oceans. However, their actions may inspire others to begin recycling their plastics instead of destroying our world with it. We wish them a speedy and safe journey. Show your support by clicking below to share this story.
