Paddle Logger Proudly Supports the Ocean8Challenge
The ocean is what keeps the planet alive. It regulates the climate, absorbs CO2 and is a source of livelihood and nutrition for billions of people. But did you know that 8 million pieces of plastic make their way into the ocean every day? To put that into perspective, that equates to one garbage truck full of plastic being emptied into the ocean every single minute, and only 1% of it floats - the rest sinks to the bottom of the sea. On UK beaches alone, there are approximately 5000 pieces of plastic and 150 plastic bottles to be found per square mile.
As paddlers, we love the water and statistics like these terrify us. We believe it’s up to all of us to take care of our ocean playground, so we’ve teamed up with Paddle Logger Ambassador Sal Montgomery, an environmentalist and professional whitewater and expedition kayaker, and Nikki Hawkes, a triathlete and environmentalist for the Ocean8Challenge, a great event that will take place for World Ocean’s Day. The aim is to raise awareness of the detrimental effects of plastic pollution in our oceans, and clean up as much of it as we can in the process.
Sal & Nikki will be heading up the event by doing an open-water ocean swim on each of the 8 days followed by a beach clean in 8 different locations on the south coast of the UK. The event is open to all and we’re calling on as many people to get involved as possible by completing a swim, run, paddle, or walk of any distance between 800m - 8km followed by a clean up in your local area, whether that’s a beach, park or high street!
“One day back in December, whilst wrapped up in our robes and woolly hats, sipping warm tea and watching the waves, me and my swim pal Nikki got talking about how valuable our sea dips had been to both of us. It’s been a rough few months and a huge amount of people have found the water, and the outdoors in general, hugely beneficial for keeping us going. Our ocean swims keep us happy and healthy and now we want to return the favour - it’s time to make our seas happier and healthier too! Every single day brings 8 million pieces of plastic in to our awesome oceans. This is crazy!! Numbers like this are daunting and massively overwhelming, no doubt making us all feel a bit useless. To go at it alone doesn’t feel like it’s enough, but as a team we can do awesome things!”
“Daunting numbers like 8 million pieces of plastic go into our oceans every day. From fishing nets, micro plastics and much more, damaging marine life. So Sal and I wanted to come up with a way to help in the lead up to this, and decided to team up with the guys at Paddle Logger to put together an epic challenge. There is no one else I would rather do this challenge with than Sal - an absolute nutcase adventurer that pushes me to be better and give back. And right now we’re buzzing to give back to the ocean which is our stomping ground by doing something we love.”
Whether you take part in the full 8 day event or carry out just one single clean up in your local area, together we can make a huge impact. Check out the full event details by clicking on the button below, follow @ocean8challenge on Instagram, and use the hashtag #myocean8 when posting on social media.
