Why I am a Blue Ambassador:
Q1. How does your sport connect you to the natural environment and how does that environment continually motivate and inspire you to achieve goals – sporting and other life goals?
Travelling at rowing, cycling or paddling pace, I get a unique perspective on life and the environment – really becoming a part of it and living at its pace, especially on the ocean. The storms dictate when I row or not and the wind will either help or hinder me; to move the boat I literally have to grip bladefuls of water, one after another, for hours, days, weeks, months. The same for the bike – I am very aware of what the landscape looks and feels like and how it will affect my riding. It feels so intimate being so connected with the earth, the water, the weather- waking up in the morning and stepping out of your tent to feel the grass between your toes or cooking dinner with a 360 degree sea view, or perhaps having seabirds cruise alongside the boat. Without the clutter and busy-ness of everyday life, my expeditions are a perfect time to reflect on the environment and life: it inspires me and excites me, and always challenges me – I love it.
Q2. What has your sport, and experiences through it, taught you about your natural environment?
My time on the water – be it rowing, kayaking, paddleboarding, sailing – always reminds me of the power of the ocean and the relentless energy of the sea, which I find uplifting as well as a reminder that we need to respect that. Yet, it has also shown me that almost no place on this planet is untouched by the effects of humanity – even far out to sea there was visible litter. Expeditions are another metaphor for the need to develop and live sustainably too – on a boat there is a finite supply of food, water and power and without rationing and recycling you’re stuck. It is through my rowing that I learned of the plight of albatrosses and seabirds too, and the conflict with fishing boats. The good news here is that there is a hopeful, easy to implement solution that has been shown to reduce albatross by catch by up to 85%.
Q3. Sport is intimately connected to nature and a healthy environment is necessary for a healthy planet. By participating in your sport, have you encountered anything that’s truly shocked you about the impact human activity is having on the natural environment?
Plastic in rivers and seas really saddens me, and unfortunately travelling at the pace I do, I encounter lots of it. On an SUP journey across England with fellow BLUE Ambassador Dave Cornthwaite, we counted over 100 pieces of litter on a stretch of canal within one hour. The story is similarly shocking out on the ocean too – there is often more plastic to be found in a plankton haul than there is living matter. I saw at least one piece of litter out at sea for every day I was out there. In Menorca in October, my paddling partner and I piled our boats high with plastics regularly in our bid to do our own little bit of coastal cleaning. When you couple that with the knowledge that plastic won’t ever fully degrade and disappear, you wonder at the havoc and damage it will cause to wildlife and our own lives.
Q4. If you were to motivate people (on a local, national, or international level) on one particular environmental issue, what would it be?
Fresh water: it is the essence of life and yet it is often treated as though it were in limitless supply. Just a tiny fraction of the world’s blue stuff is drinking water and there are a billion people in the world without safe water – I find it criminal that in the UK (and many other countries) it is wasted and polluted without a second thought. My campaign would be for saving water – reducing the wastage and impact through simple means.
Q5. What have you actively changed in your day to day living behaviour and choices, including how you go-about your sport that makes a positive difference to the health of our planet?
I stopped eating fish a few years ago now and will only eat it if I know someone has caught it themselves without damaging any other sea life on the way to my dinner plate. It’s horrifying to see the impact that commercial fishing is having on the ecosystem and I don’t want to be a part of it. Since my ocean row I have become much more conscious of water usage too and try and reduce wastage where possible.
Q6. What motivated you to become involved with The BLUE Climate and Oceans Project?
The BLUE project is everything I like about activism – really important messages are delivered in a fun, engaging way for the benefit of people and the planet. That’s always the key – the two have to marry up for people to really engage. I’m proud to be BLUE.
Q7. What one piece of advice would you offer to encourage people into thinking proactively about a BLUE future?
It’s easy to act like an ostrich with climate change and environment talk – burying your head in the sand and muttering ‘not in my lifetime’. But with a few easy steps, you can make changes in your life that will improve your own health and wellbeing and, ultimately, the future of our planet. There is no second chance – we have to step up a gear and take action now.
So my one piece of advice is – get out there and experience and enjoy the water for yourself – from the beach, from a bridge, from a boat – then you will be inspired to help protect it. Then pick one little area of your life where you can make a change – by recycling or switching to energy saving light bulbs or spending less time in the shower- and boom, you’re on your way to turning your world blue.
Q8. A call to action – What can people do to become BLUE?
For ideas on how to make your life BLUE, head over to www.blueproject.org. Pick an idea and have a go – then spread the word and paint your whole world BLUE. Energy grows if you share it; so take the baton and go for it. There’s no time to lose –we’re fighting for tomorrow.
