Swedish raft made from trash draws attention to plastic pollution
A small raft made out of salvaged plastic from Sweden’s west coast sailed the Baltic Sea this week to raise awareness about plastic debris floating our oceans.
Trash Tiki (a play on the name of another famous homemade Nordic raft, the Kon-Tiki) was built by adventurers Glenn Mattsing, Sören Kjellkvist and sailed together with TV-personality and nature photographer Joakim Odelberg.
The trio set sail from Trosa and traveled some 100 kilometers southeast through open water to Visby on the island of Gotland.
The boat made the entire trip but the sailors had to hop onto a supply ship that was following them after the winds became too strong.
Kjellkvist told Radio Sweden the group hopes people who learn about the expedition will cut down dramatically on the plastic they use and through away.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Indigenous community in Northern Canada to offset diesel with solar panels, CBC News
Finland: Dumped bombs pose toxic threat to Gulf of Finland, Yle News
Norway: Volunteers take action to clean Svalbard’s plastic-riddled beaches, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Russian Navy sends clean-up team to Arctic trash dump, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Baltic Sea plastic levels puzzle researchers, Radio Sweden
United States: America’s most toxic site is in the Alaskan Arctic, Blog by Mia Bennett, Cryopolitics
