Man (Re)Builds Island on Recycled Floating Bottles

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.











During the construction