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3 min.Read

David de Rothschild Sails Away To Plastic Island

Maurice Picow
By Maurice Picow
26

sailboat david de rothschild

Built from plastic bottles the de Rothschild heir sails his boat to show plastic island and marine pollution. 

David de Rothschild is no ordinary person; and certainly no ordinary adventurer. And his next adventure is something probably only the very rich could dream to do:

The son of Britain’s Evelyn de Rothschild of the famous Rothschild banking family, and a known adventurer and environmentalist, David has already accomplished a number of feats in his 31 years, including crossing both the Arctic icecap and entire continent of Antarctica, including reaching both geographical poles.

Founder of Adventure Ecology (site no longer operating Oc. 2022), his love for planet earth and concern for its environment as resulted in his launching of what appears to be his most harrowing feat of adventure to date. And that feat entails sailing a homemade craft made almost entirely of discarded plastic bottles, tied together by web mesh.

His destination: the gigantic “plastic island,” which we wrote about a few weeks ago –– it coming to light after Air France 447 disappeared into the abyss and probably became part of the patch itself. 

Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and made up of waste plastic and other material – and said to be almost twice the size of the American state of Texas.

great-pacific-garbage-patch

His voyage, a journey of nearly 11,000 nautical miles, will begin off the State of California, continue until reaching the “island” now floating in an area known as the Great Pacific Gyre (southwest of Hawaii) and finally ending in Sydney Australia.

The improbable voyage, on a craft made up of the same type of flotsam that the “Plastic Island” is said to be made of, is to make people aware that our oceans, the giver of much of our planet’s food and oxygen sources, are in danger to being turned into nothing but floating garbage dumps; and as a result will make life on earth even more threatened.

The journey, which was to have begun in March, 2009, was delayed until mid-summer, which could make de Rothschild’s trip even more perilous due to the occurrence of typhoons and other serve storms which are more prevalent during the summer and autumn months.

The 60 ft catamaran craft, made out of 12,000 plastic bottles and other recycled plastic  material woven into self-reinforcing polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a very strong webbing material, will be his home and that of his crew during the voyage, which he says will take about three months.

plastiki-boat

“The only worry I have (concerning the voyage) is that I get sea-sick in a bath tub. But when one is as committed as I am to do such a thing, it will be done” he says.

The craft that he and the small crew of scientists and ecologists will sail on has been named Kon-Tiki, after the primitive raft that Norwegian adventurer and writer Thor Hayerdahl used to cross the Pacific Ocean in 1947.

The main difference now is that the gigantic plastic island they are sailing to was much smaller then – if it existed at all.

While David de Rothschild globe-trots the earth to find ways to save the planet, the international banking empire his family represents have been making some moves into the United Arab Emirates, and were recently hosted by HH Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid, Ruler of Dubai and UAE Prime Minister.

The Rothschild banking consortium has entered into agreements with the Dubai government to establish financial and banking interests in the UAE. The interest of the Rothschild banking in the establishing themselves in the Dubai International Financial Canter (DIFC) indicates their  interest in assisting Dubai and other UAE states to become a leading financial center in the Middle East.

It is hoped that Rothschild bankers, with David de Rothschild’s influence, will invest in projects dealing with environmental sustainability, such as Masdar, which is being developed as one of the fist truly ecologically friendly residential and commercial projects in the world.

What is currently transpiring in the Persian Gulf region, from an environmental standpoint, especially regarding The World artificial island development project, might well be David de Rothschild’s next environmental undertaking, after his Kon-Tiki sailing adventure to “plastic island.”

::Guardian

Update in March, 2010: David sails! (links to new story)

More rich and famous explorers:

Daryl Hannah Splashes Into Egypt’s Eco Tourism
It’s The Water That Binds Us Finds Alexandra Cousteau
Hollywood’s Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts Plant Pistachio Tree in Israel
Rich and Famous Eco Explorers Prepare for New Frontier

 

Maurice Picow
Maurice Picowhttps://www.greenprophet.com/
Maurice Picow grew up in Oklahoma City, U.S.A., where he received a B.S. Degree in Business Administration. Following graduation, Maurice embarked on a career as a real estate broker before making the decision to move to Israel. After arriving in Israel, he came involved in the insurance agency business and later in the moving and international relocation fields. Maurice became interested in writing news and commentary articles in the late 1990’s, and now writes feature articles for the The Jerusalem Post as well as being a regular contributor to Green Prophet. He has also written a non-fiction study on Islam, a two volume adventure novel, and is completing a romance novel about a forbidden love affair. Writing topics of particular interest for Green Prophet are those dealing with global warming and climate change, as well as clean technology - particularly electric cars.
26 COMMENTS

  1. To survive, safely recycle 100% of our waste materials, and peacefully reduce the number of people with family planning education. If not, ecocide and extinction will be our common fate.

  2. […] Another Earth Day is upon us, and for those of us living the Middle East the very origins of this ecological event have much to do a lot with fossil fuel based energy so prevalent in this region. Aside from the frequently discussed issues surrounding the affects of oil and other fossil fuels on the world’ environment, much has been written and talked about the effects of plastic products on the world’s seas and oceans like “islands” of floating plastic material. […]

  4. Folks, spend some time to educate yourself about the Rothschilds, their history, their past involvements.

    I have, and I can’t find anything nice to say about them.

    But David doesn’t even measure up to his ancestors. No… he appears to be nothing but a spoiled rich kid, born with a silver spool in his mouth.

  6. it answers it correctly! An action to new environment of David modernizes the world. It is a review to natural energies such as the velocity of the wind and an energy shift to the light of the sun. Furthermore, We protect the sea, and it will be the times to get energy from the sea. We follow David, too.

  7. David is from a long line of do-gooders that aren't giver-uppers like me Dino Miles Curtis. Being a surfer, sailor myself. I completley see eye to eye with Rothschild. I live in a plastic environment study as well. It is the waterproofing for health and well being more people should be doing. It cuts expenses and grows better food, than you can purchase in the stores. Now we need to crack-down on Pollution tests for our children getting their first drivers licenses. To enforce new age polluting restrictions on young motorists. This would educate our new world orders of drivers and Mom's and Dad's. You will have your license revoked with any polluting being caught. You will have promotions in school for catching polluters. We need to act now! These plastics last forever, and you are part of it. Get going!!!! Cowabunga! Surfs up!!! Captain Dino Miles Curtis

  12. He is a globalist, wanting a global tax on CO2. He is actually no different than his ancestors and actually wants the reduction of mankind to 500 000 000 people. His bankster family is actually together with the Rockefeller and the IG Faber responsible for the World Wars and also the same people are again pulling the strings for World War 3. They need WW3. Inform yourself thru alternate media, not cooperate any by these guys controlled cooperate media. USE THE INTERNET

  15. Hii im jack and It is hoped that Rothschild bankers, with David de Rothschild’s influence, will invest in projects dealing with environmental sustainability, such as Masdar City, which is being developed as one of the fist truly ecologically friendly residential and commercial projects in the world.that's the thing

  16. Hii im jack and It is hoped that Rothschild bankers, with David de Rothschild’s influence, will invest in projects dealing with environmental sustainability, such as Masdar City, which is being developed as one of the fist truly ecologically friendly residential and commercial projects in the world.that's the thing

  17. I want to help bring this problem to “light” starting in my own community and state. Not very many people know of this plastic island and what it is doing to our oceans. I'd like to educate myself more as to what I can do to help educate others. Maybe there is someone out there who is an expert with this issue and can advise me of how to proceed. How to create a lesson plan hopefully with a DVD to bring to classrooms and community centers, etc. Please email me with ideas.

  20. This should be exciting to follow

    But we all need to characterize this plastic problem accurately

    There’s no “plastic island”…it’s more of a soup of plastic bits floating around. And cleaning it up is a bold and challenging proposition.

    The REAL problem isn’t “out there”, it’s “in here”…most of the photos portrayed as the “garbage patch” are taken near our shores or on our beaches, where most of the big, visible plastic accumulates.

    So get a grip on your use of disposable plastic, particulate in a cleanup effort, and see if you can drastically cut your plastic footprint

Comments are closed.

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