In early 2019, local authorities ordered the removal of Joysxee Island, a three-storey home floating on a base of more than 100,000 plastic bottles. British artist Richart Sowa had kept the structure afloat for years off Isla Mujeres, Mexico. A 2011 Kickstarter campaign listed 125,000 bottles as the platform’s basic, though other reports put the total between 100,000 and 150,000.
Sowa’s project extended beyond an art piece. By 2008, he had finished building a livable island using bottles packed into produce netting and stacked up to five meters thick. He built a multi-level house on top, with crops growing nearby. Solar panels supplied power, and he rigged a wave-powered washing machine. His aim was to show that waste could support self-sufficient living. Atlas Obscura reported that the island was gone by January 2019, after storm damage and removal by local officials. Although it resurfaced in viral reports in 2026, Joysxee Island is no longer a current project. It was dismantled and disappeared from the coast.
The reality fell short of the vision. Joysxee Island drew tourists and eco-minded travelers, but its full autonomy was never demonstrated. Solar panels and rainwater collection were in place, but no outside study confirmed that the island was truly self-sufficient. Sowa said the mangrove roots he planted helped hold the structure together and clean the water, but third parties did not test those claims.
The number of bottles cited in reports varied. The 125,000 figure in the 2011 Kickstarter campaign is the best-documented estimate, though no independent audit was conducted. Other sources put the total between 100,000 and 150,000. More bottles may have been added as the island grew, but no final count exists.
Joysxee was Sowa’s second floating bottle island. His first, Spiral Island, was destroyed by Hurricane Emily in 2005, after which he rebuilt on a larger scale. Visitors could reach Joysxee by a barge, also made from bottles, that could carry eight people. The project was compared with other recycled-plastic efforts, including a greenhouse in Canberra built from 2,000 bottles and a Costa Rican house made with seven tonnes of plastic. Unlike those projects, Sowa’s bottles remained whole and served as flotation, not building material.
The island’s end came amid storm damage and official action. Sowa said local authorities dismantled and removed Joysxee while he was out of the country. No municipal resolution has surfaced to explain the legal basis for the removal, so most details come from people directly involved. By January 2019, Atlas Obscura had updated its records to note that the island no longer existed.
After losing Joysxee, Sowa turned to Brazil. The Bottland Foundation now promotes Trashure Island, a new floating project on a river near Itacaré. Plans call for housing up to 20 residents and 100 daily visitors, with hydroponic gardens and solar power. As of September 2026, the project is unfinished, fundraising has stalled, and there is no independent confirmation that the infrastructure is working or open to the public.
Joysxee Island is now a vanished experiment. The Mexican structure is gone, surviving only in photos and memory. Sowa’s efforts in Brazil remain in the planning stage, with no evidence yet that his vision of a sustainable floating community has been realized.
