Down in Florida, I got to thinking about the oil spill and what an insanely disgusting impact it’s making on the environment. Not to mention the jobs and tourism it’s killing. It’s really down right depressing. I’m not one of those people who wears rubber shoes and spends my days at the compost pile, but I do care about the earth and drive a hybrid and only run air conditioning in one room at a time, etc. Course I don’t think me turning off the lights is going to remedy the oil spill, but it’s something.
A really cool something that is happening in the environmental world right now is David de Rothschild’s plastic boat, aptly named the Plastiki. I first read about it in Vogue and then when I was in Mexico, Katya and Jenn, who did the PR for the St. Regis, are also doing the PR for the Plastiki. And they’re doing a really good job because I’ve been reading about it everywhere. Currently in the water near the island of Tuvalu, the Plastiki is a sailboat made out of 12,500 plastic bottles and a frame of 100% recyclable plastic. It’s been sailing for 80 days now in water that is polluted with plastic. De Rothschild calls what they’re doing, “adventure ecology.” I just call it cool.
Their whole ethos is that waste is fundamentally a design flaw that we don’t see in nature and it’s time for us to re-think waste as a resource. Makes pretty good sense. Not to mention a rocking boat. Maybe Stacey and I should start making our own paper and writing on it in mud. Hmmm…I might try it next week.
A rendering of the boat. How fun to set sail on a giant milk jug.
David De Rothschild mapping it out. I like that he looks like he should be in a Nautica ad.
I have a ton of sand in my hair, I’ve already had two margaritas, and the sun is about to set. Ahhhh, the weekend. And not just the weekend, the weekend in Naples, Florida. Summer is our travel issue at Washington Life and I am lucky enough to get a lot of trips this month. And on this quick jaunt to Naples, I was able to take Craig.
Naples is very Palm Beachy so thank goodness I brought an abundance of pastel clothing and gaudy starfish earrings. With the oil spill, so much of the south is suffering, from Louisiana to Alabama. Not only fishermen and of course the eco-system, but tourism and the economy that is very reliant on tourism. So I am happy to throw on some Lilly Pulitzer and help spread the word that it’s A-okay down here in Florida. I just swam in the Gulf under the stars and it was perfect. The director of sales at our hotel told me that the phones have stopped ringing because people are scared that the oil has hit all of the south. But it’s more contained than many think. Oh, and it’s sea turtle season here. They’re everywhere and oil-free.
And now for a game of tonsil hockey under this amazing white canopy bed. Till tomorrow…
Just the words "Tiki Bar," bring me great joy. The one at La Playa makes me want to whip out the coconut bra and send in my two weeks notice. Ahhh, vacation.
Ugh, the oil spill in the Gulf Coast literally makes me sick to my stomach to think about. I’m sad, and not just selfishly because I can’t stuff my face with seafood without thinking of oil covered seagulls and dead sea turtles. It’s just such a disaster on so many levels — environmental AND economic.
I truly feel so bad for all the fisherman that have worked so hard to put food on the country’s table and who are now about to be shit out of luck. I read about one fisherman with four kids and a shrimp boat that will probably have to be sold now. Another guy just opened a Crawdad Shack and well, that’s slated to go belly up too. It’s heartbreaking. I can’t think of anything funny or fun about the oil, in fact, I am just hoping we don’t wreck our world by the time Ollie’s my age.
I guess the only upside to this is that maybe this whole disaster will serve as a wake up call to all of us. It seems to me that with all the smart people on the planet and all the technology, we’d be able to figure out a way to power our lawn mowers, SUVs, and light bulbs without any negative consequences. Why can I magically watch a movie on my phone the size of a chicken breast and have my eyes zapped with laser beams to perfection, but not be able to get from Point A to Point B without spewing a bunch of nastiness into the air? I sound like a simpleton, but I really do wonder this.
Do I have to turn into some sort of wood maiden or Henry David Thoreau in order to make my ecological peace with the world? I, like most other Americans, am spoiled and honestly wouldn’t even know how to live without all the conveniences being bad to Mother Nature affords me. I feel a little better when I buy organic milk or walk to the store or donate to save the wolves — but it all seems like lip service when stuff like this oil spill happens.
Crossing my fingers and saying a prayer for all of you in the Gulf Coast…
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