This Man Built A Floating Island For Himself Using 150,000 Recycled Bottles!

#1

Ever wondered about living around trees in an open place surrounded by water? Well, then you've got to meet this man who built himself a green island.

Richart Sowa, 63, built his own floating paradise by using 150,000 recycled bottles. It took him seven years to achieve this goal. He calls it Joyxee Island.

#2 The Floating Island

The Joyxee Island, as it is known, is a "free-floating, eco-paradise" situated in a lagoon inside Isla Mujeres, near the city of Cancun in Mexico. Sprawled across an 8,000 square-metre area, Richart's island home boasts of every amenity a modern house normally contains.

#3

Richart Sowa is making the world a better place to live in. An artist, singer, songwriter, and carpenter all rolled into one, Richart built his private island with 150,000 recycled bottles - a feat that took him seven years to achieve!

#4

But it was definitely worth all the effort, as the 61-year-old has now found his true love to share his humble abode with.

#5

Apart from the usual kitchen and bedroom, the floating-house also consists of a dry compost ecological toilet, jacuzzi, a rooftop sundeck, and a ferry made from plastic bottles, large enough to carry eight people, reports Gazette Live.

#6

The house also has an internet connection, a rain collection equipment, solar panels for electricity, two ponds, a solar-powered waterfall, a small connecting river, a wave-powered washing machine and a jacuzzi among other interesting features.

#7

Sowa began constructing it in 2007, two years after his first floating island attempt, Spiral Island, was destroyed by Hurricane Emily. And he continues to improve it by adding additional features and adding more water bottles to the base.

#8

He makes a living from music and art and showing visitors around his private island in exchange for donations.

#9

And lives there with former model Jodi Bowlin. They have a pet dog as well.

#10

"Living on my own floating island has been my dream for over two decades. I would recommend this way of life to anybody," Richart Sowa said to Gazette Live.

#11 Elements That Hold It Together

A 100 feet cord keeps the island connected to the shore to allow the free-flow of solar electricity. The island rests 90 feet away from the shoreline and has a base of air-filled plastic bottles, wooden pallets, and fruit sacks tied underneath. While plywood covers the base, heaps of sand and planted mangroves hold everything on top together.