{"id":2618,"date":"2021-05-24T11:07:04","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T09:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.planetcare.org\/?p=2618"},"modified":"2021-07-30T09:02:45","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T07:02:45","slug":"ocean-hero-carol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.planetcare.org\/de\/ocean-hero-carol\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocean Hero: Carol on Hope and the Power of Collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ocean Heroes features stories of people from all around the world who deeply care about our nature, our health, and our planet's future. Down-to-earth people who decided to change the way they do laundry not because it's easier but because filtering microplastics is the right thing to do. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carol is the founder of the \u2018One Bag Beach Clean\u2019 community<\/a>, which she runs in Cornwall, UK. After moving to the south of the UK, she was devastated to realize how full of plastic Cornish beaches are. It was something she never noticed on holidays. But once she did, she was unable to ignore it. Carol\u2019s life now revolves around sustainability and the difference every one of us can make. Read on to hear her thoughts on hope, the power of community, and creating a better world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PlanetCare: Why have you decided to live sustainably?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Carol: <\/strong>It was my move to Cornwall (which has been my life-long wish) that truly set me on the sustainability path. I did always love nature and made sure I was planting bee-friendly plants and gardening without chemicals but I wasn\u2019t doing much more than that, to be honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we moved to Cornwall and I was out walking my dogs I noticed how much plastic and rubbish there was on the local beaches, I was shocked and I knew I had to do something about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I joined many local groups, Plastic-free Falmouth, Falmouth Marine Conservation and Clean Ocean Sailing. I also became lead coordinator for Plastic Free Helford River, part of the Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Communities project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was very inspired by everything the individuals running these groups were doing and I am now so grateful and honoured to work alongside them. It\u2019s a very collaborative community down here in Cornwall and I love that. We all inspire and support each other, which fills me with hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the same time we moved, my daughter, who studied environmental sciences as her undergraduate degree completed a Masters in biodiversity and conservation. We have really been encouraging each other, both always wanting to know more, to do better, and sharing what we\u2019ve each been learning.  Our lives revolve around nature and the environment and I love it! I love that we share this interest and have a truly wonderful relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel I have come to living sustainably quite late in life but it really doesn\u2019t matter. If I look back at what I\u2019ve learned and achieved in only five years\u2026 I think it\u2019s inspiring and I encourage everyone to do the same. It is never too late to make a difference and don\u2019t forget when you start, you will immediately be a part of a wonderful global community. You\u2019re never alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018One Bag Beach Clean\u2019 community is encouraging people to pick up a bag of rubbish when they are out walking.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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PlanetCare: What do you do to lower your environmental impact?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Carol: I<\/strong> really try to do as much as possible. I have been running beach clean events for 4 years now and also started my own initiative, \u2018One Bag Beach Clean\u2019 in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was out walking the dogs I started picking up a bag of rubbish, this is something everyone can do. I used to collect the rubbish in plastic bags but this just seemed wrong! So I decided to design a reusable, washable, cotton bag using ethically sourced cotton and environmentally-friendly dye. The bags are sold very cheaply at only \u00a33 with all the profit going to support a local group, Clean Ocean Sailing, who are doing amazing work in Cornwall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018One Bag Beach Clean\u2019 community is very active, which makes me so happy, even during Covid and lockdowns, we were all out doing beach cleans individually, we never stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also take part in beach cleans that I am not organising myself, Beach Guardian\u2019s cleans are great fun. I lead the plastic-free committee at the local Women\u2019s Institute and I am so happy to see how far everyone in the group has come. They\u2019ve been swapping their single use plastic items for reusables and just living more sustainably in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"I\u2019ve come to living sustainably quite late in life. But it really doesn\u2019t matter. You can always start.\"<\/p>Carol, the founder of the \u2018One Bag Beach Clean\u2019 community<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Other than the beach cleans, I am re-wilding one whole part of my garden and building a wildlife pond. I drive an electric car. I also shop as locally as possible, I have two shopping lists, one for a small local store, where I get all my fruits and vegetables from local farmers, loose, without plastic packaging. The same for cheese and milk - I bring my glass milk bottle and refill it in the store. Then, for things I really can\u2019t get locally, I go to the supermarket. I\u2019ve also managed to find the most amazing shampoo bar on Etsy and I recommend it to everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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