A junk raft is a type of home-built watercraft made of plastic bottles or other recycled materials constructed by artists and community-minded groups organizing recreational flotillas,[1][2][3][4] or by environmentally concerned individuals seeking to draw attention to the problem of floating debris and the need for recycling.
[7][8] The JUNK Raft Project was organized by Dr. Marcus Eriksen, Joel Paschal and Anna Cummins in Long Beach, California in 2008, to bring attention to the issue of plastic pollution in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The project was launched with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, after founder Charles J. Moore encountered the patch in 1997.
Crewed by Dr. Marcus Eriksen of the Foundation and film-maker Joel Paschal, the raft set off from Long Beach, California on 1 June 2008, arriving in Honolulu, Hawaii on 28 August 2008.
On the way, they gave valuable water to record-holding ocean rower Roz Savage, also on an environmental awareness voyage, when her supplies dwindled.