There’s a new schooner in the water in Lunenburg.
The Blue Dream Project was been working on their wooden, sustainable ship for the last two years. They launched it into the water last week in what was the first traditional launch in decades for the ocean-side town.
The non-profit, Italo-Canadian organization was founded by Francesco Nanni as a way to preserve and protect the marine environment from pollution caused by plastic.
Officials from the project say it’s estimated that more than 200,000 tons of plastic ends up in our oceans every day. Nanni said he hopes they can help put a stop to that.
“They have done some studies by which by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish by weight in the oceans,” said Nanni. “Is that a good reason? I think that’s a good reason.”
The goal of the organization is to educate and influence people to dramatically decrease their plastic consumption and advocate for sustainable alternatives.
Nanni said our society has become accustomed to using excessive amounts of plastic bags, water bottles and other non-biodegradable products.
“I believe the problem lies in our idea of comfort,” he said. “It is easy to go to the supermarket and just put everything in plastic bags and walk to the car. maybe we just step back and do what we used to do – bring our own bags.”
Nanni said people need to open their eyes to the fact that a plastic bag is used on average for 12 minutes and can last thousands of years in our environment.
As a scientist and mariner, he came up with The Blue Dream Project as a way to educate people and raise awareness. Constructing the wooden schooner was the first step in this process. He, along with local master shipwight David Westergard began constructing the 60-foot ship in the very shed where the Bluenose II was built.
Nanni says he chose Lunenburg as their headquarters due to it’s rich sailing history and it’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“This has been my main focus in the last two years because it is the first tool that I need and now I’ve actually hired a local company to help build up the development of the organization,” he said.
The ship was launched into the water on July 23. It was christened “Mahayana,” meaning “the great vessel” from the Buddhist tradition.
There is still work to be done before winter comes, including the construction of a research centre. It will allow them to monitor plastic waste so as to provide information, data and proposals to protect the marine environment.
“My goal is to see researchers and undergrad and post-grad students come on board for expeditions,” said Nanni. “All of these studies, I’m hoping to share with more than one institution. In fact, it should be a network worldwide that would actually communicate with each other to assess the updated situation at all times so that measures can be taken and governments be approached and so forth.”
Nanni says they will depart Nova Scotia before winter begins and sail to the Caribbean. There, they will finish constructing the inside of the ship and begin their journey to educate people around the world.
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