He's the heir to the Rothschild banking empire, David de Rothschild is also a noted environmentalist, choosing to forgo getting into the family business for his own pursuits including founding the organization Adventure Ecology which strives to promote environmental awareness through high-profile expeditions and missions.  The latest such mission, National Geographic reports, for the 30-year-old is an inspired choice, if one that doesn't sound entirely unfamiliar. de Rothschild is planning to sail across the Pacific from San Franciso, Ca., to Sydney, Australia in 60-foot rudderless boat made entirely of recycled materials, mainly plastic bottles.(SO sick of those things, seriously.)

He's calling the expedition, Plastiki, and the reason is to draw attention to the disturbing Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, basically a landfill on top of the water, located between California and Hawaii that's twice the size of Texas.  He'll set sail in March, not only to bring awareness about this man-made monstrosity, but to illuminate a host of other environmental issues like nuclear fallout and global warming as it effected the island of Tuvalu.

It reminds us a little--no, well, more than a lot, actually of JunkRaft (a boat also made of plastic water bottles that two dudes, Marcus and Joel sailed across the Pacific on). But if it's a trend to reuse these detrimental castoffs for ways that highlight their detriment, then anchors away!

Read more here.