David de Rothschild’s Plastiki Sets Sail! – Video

Just in time for World Water Day (today) and after nearly four years of development, eco-adventurer David de Rothschild has launched his most ambitious expedition yet. The Plastiki, an innovative catamaran made from 12,000 post-consumer plastic bottles, set sail on Saturday for a 100-day voyage from San Francisco to Sydney. Their mission is to witness some of the most devastating waste accumulation on our planet, including the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch. According to his twitter feed, David and the crew had eggs for breakfast on their first morning at sea. (Read our previous coverage and see the NG Plastiki site.)

Taking inspiration from Thor Heyerdal's 1947 Kon-tiki expedition, the Plastiki's crew includes of David
de Rothschild, accomplished skipper Jo Royle, and Olav Heyerdahl, Thor's grandson. Check back for updates here, or go to http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/plastiki/.

Photographs courtesy of Luca Babini