LAU students with the help of the environmental NGO Chreek have built the biggest Phoenician ship made out of plastic. The Phoenician-shaped trireme is 13 meters long, 4 meters wide, is made out of 25,000 plastic bottles and completed on Sunday its first voyage from Byblos to Zaitunay Bay.

The aim from this initiative is to raise awareness on the ever-increasing plastic pollution and bringing people together to fight Lebanon’s littering problem while celebrating our heritage. It is worth noting that 50,000 represents 10% of our daily usage of plastic bottles in Lebanon, and it took months for these LAU students along with several NGOs, schools and municipalities to collect 50,000 bottles only.

Lebanon’s garbage crisis has been ongoing for 3 years now and the only solution envisioned by the authorities so far is burying our garbage in the sea.