X TRILLION
14 WOMEN, 3000 MILES, X TRILLION PIECES OF PLASTIC
“We are about as far away from civilisation as one can get. Yet here, all around us, is evidence of our daily lives on land. Our choices. Our purchases. This is your old toothbrush, my empty shampoo bottle, the lid to his coffee cup.” – Michelle Byle, crew member and packaging designer.
X Trillion follows the gruelling journey of eXXpedition’s all-women crew led by Emily Penn as they sail 3,000 miles across
the North Pacific Ocean through the densest accumulation of ocean plastic on the planet to make the unseen, seen.
The 14-strong international crew of scientists, sailors, designers, engineers, and teachers set sail on a transformative
month-long voyage. They leave families and land behind, coming together battling high seas, storms and sea sickness,
to carry out cutting edge microplastics research and investigate the crisis of plastic pollution in one of
the most remote places on Earth.
In a practical and emotional response to one of the biggest global challenges of our time, this is
a story of hope, filled with life, magic and a call to action that burns with optimism.
JUNE 2018
BACKGROUND:
In June this year, I will be sailing 3000 nautical miles across the North Pacific with a formidable all-women crew. Over three weeks, we will travel from Hawaii to Vancouver through the densest ocean plastic accumulation zone on the planet, the North Pacific Gyre (better known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch). Why? We will be doing research - scientific, design-based, creative,... looking at the impacts of plastics on the health of the planet but also our bodies. And, as a documentary filmmaker with over 15 years of experience trying to make issues like this interesting (an evolving and never-ending challenge!) I will be making a film about the expedition, the discoveries, the voyage, the women, the issue of marine plastics and persistent organic pollutants as a whole, and the solutions, to make people think about this like they never have before.
As I collect this material, I aim to engage with some schools, feeding back daily updates of the expedition and providing some classroom materials to start discussions around the issues. All of this is in the hope that it will engage school kids and young people in the issue in a more personal way. One of the other key goals of the trip is to raise the profile of women in science and adventure so I hope that we inspire young girls to see that their role in these fields is crucial too!
To find out more about the expedition, click on this link: http://exxpedition.com/expeditions/north-pacific-2018/
This is amazing and, if you have 15 minutes, I highly recommend watching Emily explain why this expedition matters...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym0rCEbHDqM
I update my blog with info relating to the trip here: https://www.larkrisepictures.com/blog-1