Man Throws 4,800 Bottles with Messages out to Sea, Gets 3,100 Replies



Harold Hackett of Prince Edward Island, Canada, does what the BBC calls "old-school social networking." Since 1996, he's tossed 4,800 bottles into the sea. The currents have carried some of them to Europe, Africa, the United States, and Caribbean islands. He knows this because he's received more than 3,100 letters from people, many of whom share their inner thoughts with this stranger from across the ocean. Watch the video at the link about Hackett's story.

Link (self-starting audio) -via Gizmodo

Comments (11)

Newest 5
Newest 5 Comments

This to me seems like a really cool idea (: it would probably take a couple of years for any of the bottles to return. The fact that he recieved multiple back is mind blowing. I would like to try this one day (: Granted I don't live next to the ocean, but I will include a phone number or possibly my e-mail, and see if I am able to recieve any response. This will go on my bucket list (:
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So the cat throws a sealed, plastic bottle into the ocean. Each time he does a pretentious, self-righteous, rabid environmental hypocrite from a so-called enlightened first-world country decides that they are justified in their continued purchase of any food or beverage sealed in a petroleum-based package as long as they do their part in delivering the refuse to the proper recycling container.

Hypocrites, all. Why not become effectual and proactive by demanding the cessation of the toxic containment of corn-syrup or bottled water or some over-priced juice?

The problem with pollution? The individual irresponsibility of people who want their cake, to eat it, then to tell others how they should eat it, what time, how it should taste, etc. etc. etc.

Stop buying the shit, and manufacturers will cow-tow to demands that will keep their quarterly digits a-poppin'. Half the useless bullshit sold at Walmart is made of petroleum, manufactured by Asian wage-slaves, by a country whose Borg-like masses are way to far removed from sane sensibilities.....because they wanna be like the star-bellied sneetches....That would be y'all, us, we.

Glass is best. Throw it in the ocean and it turns into something the ocean can use. Oh but wait...what would the world be like without plastic??

Go look at some photographs prior to saaaay, 1930. Utilitarian plastics have given the world a rather dull, artless, cheesy look, and has no doubt contributed to the insanity that allows companies whose bulk of revenue comes from the 24-production of it, to continue to operate.

Hooray for this guy throwing empty plastic bottles with messages into the ocean! It's much more cathartic and profitable than lazily buying a bottle of (insert crap here) like some raccoon grabbing a shiny bauble.

Ok, done-*steps off soapbox during derby
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I can attest that it works. I also live in Canada and regularly toss my empty Tim Hortons coffee cups in Lake Ontario. So far I've had two responses from Hamilton harbour, strangely, they were both from transvestites...
Oh well, something about "Steel City" I guess.
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The stuff (clothing/food) in Canada is more expensive than in the States despite the strength of currency. For the last several years, I've been skipping the border every month or so to go shopping : )
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The truth is, America has the buying power of a few hundred million people. The entire country of canada has the buying power of the state of California....

Things in canada will never be cheaper than the US

As a retail worker in canada i can say for sure its cheaper in the states. but if you get caught your paying taxes on your way back into the country.
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List of countries by highest GDP:

1.) USA - 13m
2.) Japan - 4m
3.) Germany - 3m
4.) China - 3m
5.) UK - 2m
6.) France - 2m
7.) Italy - 2m
8.) Canada - 1m

What does this mean you say?

It says that you might beat us at health care, or bad movies, or complaining - but you will never, in a THOUSAND years, beat our economy.
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That woman has the worst Chav fashion sense. It's like having a trailer park loser getting in someone's face. Please, HAVE your freaking currency if it means we don't get those "on the dole" sunglasses.
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I know this is lacking in "national pride" but I prefer dollars to pounds. They seem more like money somehow. Probably because in all media the international currency is shown as being green and the sign for money as $. When I was in America last we did a tour of Washington D.C, Boston and New York and one of our tour guides was telling us about how the money is made. Apparently a small percent of every dollar is made of linen, which is why it's less paper like and not as stiff as most other countries.
Also, as far as I can tell, American dollars are the only currency which have a smell ^_^
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Jerse >> At least Europe has been around for a thousand years. ;-)

Anyways, the $-design is a 100 times better than the east-german looking Euro notes. I am so glad that we kept our danish kroners.
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Always funny

Compare like for like, GDP PER CAPITA or by Currency.. USA is 9th or 10th in the world per capita and lower than EU by currency so this joke stands.

The strength of your economy compared to others is why America is the brunt of this and other jokes, not how many crap wobbly American planet killing cars you can pump out because your fat arse broke the last one within a year

Peace and love USA, as long as you're not bombing people you're a bit like the odd cousin who, despite being slightly retarded, somehow became really rich.

But still no-one can stand a conversation with for more than 5 minutes because you keep scratching your balls and picking your nose
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I don't really care how big the GDP is in the US. You've got a large population of poor people, no universal health care AND a looming health care crisis (thanks to the obesity rate), and people defaulting on their mortgages and losing their homes... all despite your big GDP.

It's like bragging you have a big penis... and yet not knowing how to use it properly.
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I'm Brazilian and I have lived in America and in Europe before. I'm not surprised at all about most of the European comments here. During the time I lived in Europe there wasn't a day I didn't hear someone talk s*** about the US. You know, Europeans are all smart, thin, polite and peace loving, just like the "Dan" guy in this comment section.
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