Sun 18 Nov 2007
Man (Re)Builds Mexican Island Paradise on 250,000 Recycled Floating Bottles
Posted by ecoble under Design and Architecture, Environmental Images, Green Everything, Sustainable Innovation
If you can’t afford to buy your own tropical island paradise, why not build your own? That is exactly what Richie Sowa did back in 1998, from over a quarter-million plastic bottles. His Spiral Island, destroyed years later by a hurricane, sported a two-story house, solar oven, self-composting toilet and multiple beaches. Better yet, he has started building another one! His ultimate goal? To build the island bigger and bigger and finally float out to sea, traveling the world from the comfort of his own private paradise.
The original Spiral Island was (as its successor will be) built upon a floating collection used plastic bottles, all netted together to support a bamboo and plywood structure above. Located in Mexico, the original was 66 by 54 feet and was able to support full-sized mangroves to provide shade and privacy, yet also able to be moved from place to place by its creator as need with a simple motorized system.
An environmentalist to the core, Sowa is also an artist and a musician. More than just the universal dream of an island retreat, Spiral Island is also his vision for low-impact sustainable living. The next version of the island will be built to withstand more treacherous weather than the first and will also be located in a more sheltered part of Mexico’s waters.
The Above Ripley’s Believe-it-or-Not video is a great introduction to the island, which conjures images of Gilligan-done-right. Spiral island is able to exist and move about in Mexico in part because it is classified as a ship, not an island, like an atoll out of WaterWorld (only much much cooler). On September 7, 2007 the new Spiral Islander social network utility was opened to the public to allow visitors, Spiral Islanders and friends of Richie Sowa to connect and communicate about the history of Spiral Island and to learn more and discuss Richie Sowa’s new Spiral Island. Want more islands? See these 7 Island Wonders of the World from WebUrbanist.
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Trackback from meneame.net
November 19th, 2007 at 12:16 pmHombre se crea su propio miniparaiso flotante con 250.000 botellas de plástico [ENG]…
Después de tres años este tipejo se ha construido su propia isla flotante con botellas recicladas. Está hecho con una base de bambú, es algo más grande que una pista de tenis y lo mejor es que crecen plantas y arboles. Añádele además la casita …
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Pingback from This Is The Goo I’ve Got
November 19th, 2007 at 5:27 pm[...] page, or find out more about me. I also have a RSS feed and full archives. Thanks for dropping by.Man (Re)Builds Mexican Island Paradise on 250,000 Recycled Floating Bottles » ecoble Here’s one way of putting all those bloody plastic bottles to good use.Jonathan Coulton Sings [...]
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November 19th, 2007 at 5:46 pm[...] island Genius or just plain mad? Green or potential disaster? You tell me! __________________ [X] Credit Cards [X] Car loan [ ] Full Emergency Fund [ ] Student loans [ ] [...]
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November 20th, 2007 at 2:18 pm[...] More delicious pictures and information are available here at ecoble. Here’s another YouTube link. [...]
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November 20th, 2007 at 11:47 pm[...] Visto en Ecoble [...]
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December 1st, 2007 at 10:14 amGeneral Discussion - Week 13…
Post your posts and comments below as usual… Green colleges Maddy The Sierra Club’s magazine released an article…
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December 6th, 2007 at 3:24 pm[...] are dirty islands of non-biodegradable plastic floating in our oceans? Well a former carpenter made his own tropical island buoyed by empty plastic bottles, and it looks like paradise. Spiral Island currently lives off the [...]
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January 17th, 2008 at 12:17 pm[...] questions are truly as bizarre as these weird alternative fuel sources and outlandish as this incredible man-made recycled island. Whatever your opinions on climate change these are, at the very least, entertaining and extremely [...]
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Pingback from WebUrbanist » 5 Floating Utopia and Ocean City Projects: From Seafaring Condos to to Oceanic Micronations
March 9th, 2008 at 12:15 pm[...] hasn’t imagined living on their very own floating paradise? For those aboard ResidenSea, a permanent ocean-going residence, this dream is at least a partial [...]
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March 22nd, 2008 at 4:42 pm[...] hasn’t imagined living on their very own floating paradise? For those aboard ResidenSea, a permanent ocean-going residence, this dream is at least a partial [...]
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Pingback from 250,000 Plastic Bottles => 1 Floating Island Paradise [PICS] | Simple Drops
April 15th, 2008 at 9:21 am[...] toilet and multiple beaches. Don’t worry though: this guy is already building a new one!read more | digg story addthis_url = [...]
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Pingback from 250000 Plastic Bottles 1 Floating Island Paradise Pics - FaSTCaR - Car My Dreams
April 15th, 2008 at 9:51 am[...] Man (Re)Builds Mexican Island Paradise on 250,000 Recycled Floating … … Builds Mexican Island Paradise on 250,000 Recycled Floating Bottles … The manmade island floating atop plastic bottles : Rapidsea ~ Escape from Paradise … More delicious pictures … ecoble.com [...]
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Pingback from Update: New Floating Man-Made Island About to be Open to the Public » ecoble - ecological design, green innovation and environmental sustainability
May 12th, 2008 at 2:19 pm[...] is slated to open to the public within the next few months in Laguna Makax near Isla Mujeres. The new island has drawn in donations, volunteers and visitors from all parts of the world and walks of life - [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
where did he get all the bottles …
and why did he have to make an artificial one when there r like thousands of natural ones …
environmentalist … ???
November 20th, 2007 at 12:54 am
He turned rubbish into usable land - seems like a fairly environmentally sound solution.
November 20th, 2007 at 4:13 am
I agree with ecoble here, where else would you stick 250,000+ bottles?
November 20th, 2007 at 7:02 am
Wow dude now thats devotion.
November 20th, 2007 at 8:23 am
haha
he said rubbish.
November 20th, 2007 at 11:02 am
subcorpus he tolds that in the future he will travel trough the ocean with his island, he can’t do that with a traditional islan
November 20th, 2007 at 11:29 am
Great idea! Although I also have to ask how environmental it was when 250,000 plastic bottles were washed out to sea after a hurricane destroyed the island?!?
November 20th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Yeah, it’s environmentally sound until you consider that the sand was stolen from the beach and that after being destroyed by a hurricane all those bottles, instead of being recycled, ended up disbursing into the ocean. Also the plants on the island are not nearly enough to make it self sustainable.
November 20th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
He created the island as part of his dream; he may have not had enough money to buy his own land -let alone island paradise- and he made it his own. However, I don’t think it’s as ecological as it seems, he may have ‘created’ land, but that’s only one person. For it to be a solution to the earth’s eco-problems, everyone would have to do the same, but most people, selfish as they be, are the vast majority, don’t want to give up their luxuries.
Not that this is relevant, I’m fifteen. I can’t find many people that express themselves properly on the Internet nowadays. It’s a shame.
November 20th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
I liked the part where they said he was taking sand from the beach. Very sound environmental practice indeed. At least he didn’t dredge it up like the islands of Dubai.
December 29th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
didn’t watch the video but from what i see its very innovative. definitely an environmentalist and an engineer. this is a great way to look outside the box and find immediate solutions to current problems the world is facing. just think how much further one could take this idea…
January 8th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Hhmmm
Well in 2005 the bottles ended up everywhere and no- he does not sustain himself on the island. Ripleys put a very positive spin - on a seemingly very good idea that has a whole other side to it.
January 19th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Neat idea .. actually kinda novel in as much as it is not sustainable over the long term … too many contingent areas of vulnerability such as: the navigating of oceans with salt water and their effects on the plants ( other than Mangroves ) he has planted and/or corrosive factors; the nets containing thousands of plastic bottles can be compromised ( broken corroded or nawed upon to the point of sinking the entire island; fresh water requirements may not be adequate to sustain himself and plants; the eventual deterioration of the plastic bottles when crustaceans such as barnacles and the like begin to take their toll; lack of emergency medical treatment if too far at sea etc, etc.
It seems an ok concept if he remains close to shores and out of salt water but sailing around th world ? I don’t think so … but he is to be congratulated and admired for his efforts
January 19th, 2008 at 11:51 am
After watching the U Tube video a second time hearing of the Mexican government claiming it and wanting to use it as a tourist attraction ( any opportunity to capitalize and make a buck ) well, there goes the peaceful tranquility of your “private, island sanctuary … and lastly, what of the sanitation factor … disposing or recycling all that human and animal waste so as not to contaminate the waters it floats in ? Logistics, logistics, logistics.
March 14th, 2008 at 11:04 am
are the bottles half empty or half full?
March 18th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
how dose the sand not all get washed off with the water/waves!
how dose he keep it on the island?
April 14th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I doubt if this guy will make it very far out to sea. It’s obvious his engineering skills won’t hold up to what Mother Nature on the high seas will dish out to him. But hey, somebody has to feed the fishies!
April 14th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I doubt if this guy will make it very far out to sea. It’s obvious his engineering skills won’t hold up to what Mother Nature on the high seas will dish out to him. But hey, somebody has to feed the fishies!
April 15th, 2008 at 8:56 am
why doesn’t he go use all the plastic already floating in the middle of the pacific?
April 15th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Interesting idea. Until you get to the part where he wants to float out and tour the world. I wonder how many invasive species he’ll transplant and cause ecological issues with?
April 15th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Everybody should sen their plastic bottles to him; I would.
April 15th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I am very impressed… I like to see people doing things like this. Kudos to him
April 15th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Regardless thats TOO sick. Its my dream, like I’m sure millions of others - but this guy did it.
Kudos.
Its beautiful.
April 15th, 2008 at 10:41 am
To the critics i ask: since when is moving land from one point to another some enviromental risk?
And considering that the bottles would probably have ended up there anyway, at least he’s trying to make something constructive from the trash we’ve added to the planet. Whens the last time you did something constructive with your McDonalds wrappers? But thats cool, sit back, surf the web, watch TV, eat your McDonalds and criticize… when the food runs out someone has to die and frankly i’d feel better if it were you and not me.
April 15th, 2008 at 11:02 am
What is all this talk about him not being an environmentalist because he took sand off a beach? Do you guys have any idea how much of the world is sand? You may as well be bothered that he had a few bottles of water to drink and that the water came from a river.
April 15th, 2008 at 11:34 am
there is actually a long back story they are not mentioning, he was robbed several times from mexican nationals and was considered a thief due to the worth of the recyclables he was collecting. He wouldn’t last a month in open sea with that thing without a weather monitoring system
April 15th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
About 4 years ago I built a soda bottle pontoon boat. Here is an instructables link that shows it and how it was built.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I think we finally found a future solution to Pirate Bay’s server location problem.
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Why do people leave such ignorant comments on articles like this? I think everybody has something to say, and nobody will listen to you. Get off your video games and myspace and read a book. FOX News obviously won’t educate you with their FAUX stories.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I visited the original and its a lot more amazing outside of pictures I was fortunate to be friends with Barbara his X
May 5th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
What kind of critters got caught in the nets? Dolphins? hmm..
I admire his efforts to set a good example. At least he’s trying, which is more than I can say for most of our population.
If we all try to inspire others to take better care of the planet (that we could not exist without) we might be able to turn things around in time to save it. But people are so willing to criticize and poke fun at others’ valiant efforts that I am afraid that it’s going to be too late, that we won’t realize what we are doing until our earth is totally polluted and we have to try to find a new place to live. Who do you think they are going to pick to take with them? What do you have to offer if such a terrible (and unthinkable) thing came to be? Would they take YOU?
At least make an effort and spread the word. Support organic farmers, buy ecofriendly products, use renewable energy sources, don’t litter, protest the use of styrofoam, cut down on plastic, and THINK what we can accomplish.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Kon Tiki made it across the Pacific (well sort of). It was made of balsa, a lot less durable than PET bottles. Then again, Kon Tiki was not saddled with 60 tons of sand either.
Sailboats seem to have dealt with most of the problems he will face, so it is theoretically possible.
It does sound like he will have a lot of maintenance to do on the island. I guess it doesn’t matter as he’ll have lot’s of free time in the middle of the Atlantic.
Hopefully he’ll have all emergency devices (EPIRB, lifeboat, lifevest, etc).
Should be interesting if it happens.
Goat
May 10th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
wondering how he is doing with the island now.. it been one years.. is he still staying there?