About the Project

Think Before You Throw

In 2010, Isara Foundation began construction of a 30 foot (10 meter) plastic bottle boat to help educate people along the Mekong River about the dangers of polluting the environment. When completed the boat will be sailed 650km down the Mekong River, educating people to Think Before You Throw.

Visitors to southeast Asia have undoubtedly noticed the trash and plastic bag epidemic facing this area. If rubbish were being disposed of, or recycled, properly then the problem wouldn’t be as bad. Unfortunately, trash is habitually thrown onto the ground and into rivers at an alarming rate.

In mid-2010, Isara began thinking of ways to educate people about the dangers of polluting their environment. Instead of doing a typical campaign, Isara thought it’d be much more interesting to make a boat from plastic bottles, and use it as a symbol of the problem. At the same time, The Plastiki, a 60 foot plastic bottle boat, was sailing the Pacific. So it seemed as though the concept was sound!

Isara’s “Plastic Bottle Boat” began construction in late 2010 and was completed in June, 2011. The boat was built by volunteers and uses 100% donated materials. In total there are more than 6,000 reused plastic bottles in the two hulls of the boat. Many of the bottles used in the boats construction were found floating in the Mekong River.

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