The Paddler ezine Issue 54 summer 2020 | Page 10

ThePADDLER 10 Interviews with two of the best known plastic pollution campaigners… The Covid-19 crisis has outlined the problems we have with plastic pollution in our waters both in the ocean and on our rivers. It was highlighted many times how the lockdown had drastically reduced pollution, certainly on the rivers, and now how the reduction in lockdown restrictions is having the opposite effect, as single-use plastics are once again increasing in our waterways and oceans and we’ve become uncomfortably familiar with images of masks and gloves in water courses, plus mountains of littler on public beaches. We asked Cal Major, known for her work on keeping our oceans free from plastic, whom we interviewed two years ago on her career and paddling highlights (https://paddlerezine.com/an-interview-withcal-major/), and Paul Hyman, of Active360, equally well known for keeping our rivers clean, to find their views on how we can get back on track for the future… Interview: Peter Tranter Photos: James Appleton Cal is a veterinary surgeon turned ocean advocate and stand up paddleboarder, campaigning to stop plastic pollution at source, and reconnect people to nature. Cal became the first person in history to SUP the length of the UK, a distance of 1,000 miles, from Land’s End to John O’Groats, and the first woman to solo circumnavigate the Isle of Skye, Scotland. These expeditions were used to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the ocean. Cal got into SUP in 2014 as a result of an injury and it’s fair to say she has never looked back.