Solar-powered “boat of bottles” returns to dock in Australia.
The sixty-foot catamaran, Plastiki, constructed from about 12,500 discarded plastic bottles and equipped with sustainable solar panels, arrived in Sydney, Australia on Monday, July 26 following a four-month voyage that began in San Francisco, USA. Expedition leader and environmentalist David de Rothschild, said the journey was motivated by a 2006 United Nations report warning of the perils of plastic in the world’s seas as it stated that every square mile of the oceans contained 46,000 pieces of floating plastic debris.

Voyaging 8,000 nautical miles, Mr. de Rothschild along with 5 other crew members endured storms and other challenges on the journey. They also witnessed first-hand the North Pacific gyre, a place where some 3.5 million tons of discarded plastic has gathered in an enormous current and clustered together in a swirling mass of waste the size of Texas, USA.

Saying that this debris now represents a real threat to marine life, World Wildlife Fund Policy Manager for Marine Species Lydia Gibson stated, “Plastic garbage, which decomposes very slowly, is often mistaken for food by marine animals.

High concentrations of plastic material, particularly plastic bags, have been found blocking the breathing passages and stomachs of many marine species, including whales, dolphins, seals, puffins and turtles.
Plastic six-pack rings for drink bottles and cans can also choke marine animals.” As one example of the unimaginably horrific effects of this marine waste, the stomach of a rare eight-meter Bryde's whale discovered perished on an Australian beach was found to be jammed with almost six square meters of plastic, including supermarket bags, food packaging, three large sheets of plastic and fragments of garbage bags.
 
The returned Plastiki will be on display for a month at the Australian National Maritime Museum where the crew members will hold public speaking events to raise awareness of the increasingly dire effects of plastic waste in the ocean.

Mr. de Rothschild said, “The plan is to create a global oceans exhibit that can showcase not only the issue of throw-away plastics but really about nurturing and re-evaluating our oceans... our most precious of ecosystems.”

Our admiring salute, Mr. de Rothschild and crew on the success of your eco-adventure as we also thank World Wildlife Fund for their caring efforts on behalf of marine co-inhabitants.

May more and more people become aware and motivated toward actions that consider all lives on our shared planetary home. Supreme Master Ching Hai has often spoken of the importance of our care for other beings in a larger picture of global balance, as during a July 2008 videoconference in Formosa (Taiwan).


http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/addiction-to-plastic-is-fuelling-marine-disaster-
20100724-10pki.html?autostart=1
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2964923.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/07/25/plastiki.australia/index.html
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/plastiki-boat-made-recycled-bottles-completes-pacific-ocean/story?id=11251172&
page=2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10759623

Company helps animals continue to roam freely.
In an area of agricultural development, the Malaysian Malbumi Group of Companies has constructed nine culvert crossings connecting waterways to enable wildlife to travel from one side of the region’s Kinabatangan Sanctuary to another. Managing Director Edward Ang said, “We felt sorry for disturbing their natural habitat when we proceeded … To clear our conscience, we now hope to do our best in taking good care of them.”

He went on to say, “Only humans have the power and ability to ensure the future of wildlife, so we need to start making that difference.

” Thank you Director Ang and Malbumi Group of Companies for your considerate care of the wildlife. May we continue seeking a harmonious balance to live in peace with the animals while protecting them.
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/7/21/southneast/6651517&sec=southneast
http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2010/07/wildlife-culvert-crossings-built-by.html

Extra News
Britain’s new coalition government is promising renewed focus on restoring populations of endangered animals as well as other aspects of protecting natural environments,with a commissioned environmental paper due out next spring.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7909067/Countryside-has-been-overlooked-
amid-climate-change-battle.html

A rare albino humpback whale, named Migaloo, renowned among whale watchers in Australia, is granted special protection by the Queensland state government, with boats required to maintain a minimum distance of 500 meters.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/migaloo-the-albino-whale-gets-protection-from-queensland-boaties/story-
e6freon6-1225896614716

With all but two of Thailand’s rivers running at less than 10% of capacity and a drought that some forecast may last until 2011, officials report damage to crops that will likely affect rice, cassava, sugarcane, maize and fruit harvests.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LG02Ae01.html
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/187898/drought-bugs-eat-into-cassava-output

A large US-based fast food corporation reports its Chinese, US and Japanese chicken nuggets contain tertiary butylhydroquinone, which has been banned from cosmetic use in Canada and in large quantities is considered a toxic chemical.
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Watch-
List/chicken_mcnuggets_contain_disturbing_additives_2407101143.html
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/24/chicken-mcnuggets-sold-in-china-have-disturbing-
additives.aspx
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15608132
http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/33/3/365