Trashy Holidays

Feeling stressed? Need a break? Got more money than sense? Then take a trip on Garbage Patch Cruises! You can take part in the exclusive eco adventure of a plastic bag’s lifetime when the Sea Dragon sails two months through swirling pools of garbage in the North Pacific Ocean. Just contact the 5 Gyres Institute and Algalita Marine Research Institute and say the secret phrase, “hello sailor”.

People can apply to be part a research/observation “adventure” and monitor the accumulation of debris in the Pacific Ocean following the March 2011 Tsunami that devastated the Japanese coast. Applicants who will be successful will be able to help sail the ship, take part in observations, and cough up $13,500 for the first leg and/or $15,500 for the second.

:O

Holly fuck, 13 and a half grand to get your sea legs! Or at least the first one! If you can only afford one, will they lean over board and fashion a peg leg from floating crap?

Now, I am all for the environment, she and I go way back, but sometimes I have to question the motivation and actions of some people that champion her cause. It feels like at times that they are right up there with vitamin sales people and mortgage brokers; they’re a bit dodgy and have hidden terms and conditions on their reasoning. What is the trip hoping to achieve? Raise awareness? Get stuffed. How about while you’re there you pick up some of that toxic plastic shit and take it back to land instead of waving a flag trying to attract attention?

I should point out both the 5 Gyres Institute and Algalita Marine Research Institute are non-profit groups, and on the surface they have grave concerns about the amount of crap circulating the oceans. I feel that raising awareness is not enough anymore. Society is suffering from aware-fatigue.

Every man and his good willed dog is trying to save the planet and trying to grab the public’s attention. Only to make it aware that life is more shit than they thought. We are tired of being told that we are selfish, destroying the air we breathe, and that doing nothing is just as bad. But you don’t want a society to drop everything and help, trust me, think of consequences. Imagine if everyone started helping and doing everything they can because it was the thing to do. Now, because it is the thing to do, people will stop doing it.

If you’re not careful, environmental ideals will go mainstream and embed itself in popular culture. That would make it cool and therefore uncool because everyone is doing it. Hipsters will start firing cans of hairspray into the air, and CFC fridges will be cool because they are retro.

People in linen pants stalking farmer’s markets calling me Hitler for not growing my own food is bad enough, but hipsters burning tires is worse.

Be aware

One thing that strikes me as odd is when people do things to raise “awareness” for a cause. Do not misunderstand me, I think it is a good thing that people dedicate their time for charity, or to strive for a better world, but sometimes I cannot help but to sit back and think “what a bloody waste of time.”

The one that made me laugh yesterday is the group sailing from San Francisco to Sydney in a boat made entirely of empty plastic bottles in aid to increase awareness of garbage in the oceans. Call me stupid, but isn’t that a little like setting fire to people’s homes in aid to raise awareness of bushfire? Assisting the problem and not the solutions? I thought the idea is to stop crap from getting into the ocean, not to sail through it, and on it.

An advertising campaign brings awareness. It costs a bit of money, but so does sailing a boat made from materials stolen from the homeless and keeping it supplied for a 130 days at sea. What are the real reason guys? Your wives found out, and instead of looking stupid by telling them the truth, you told them it was for charity? I mean, come on, you named it “Plastiki”!?

Education is important, but raising awareness is not education. Sailing Tupperware around the world is not a substitute for schooling. The only thing I will learn is that you are a knob. More bins in the street will more than likely have a better effect on waste getting into storm water drains then seeing your dumb-arse on the news. I appreciate your effort guys, but next time some awareness on what might actually work would be better for you and everyone concerned.