Tips for Lockdown

This blog is formed of several sections.

1. How to be an Eco-Activist on Lockdown

2. How to stay connected to the oceans… even if you can’t be there.

3. Mastering the Endurance Mindset

1. How to be an Eco-Activist on Lockdown!

It might seem that all eco-activities have come to a halt in the shadow of the global coronavirus pandemic. I appreciate that at this time it can seem futile to be trying to do anything other than tackle the coronavirus pandemic. If you are able to help in a safe way, please do. However for most of us, helping means being at home, supporting each other from a distance and protecting our mental and physical health, and that of our loved ones, as best we can for the moment. If you’re someone who deeply cares about the environment, and is passionate about doing your bit to protect it, there are still things you can do even on lockdown to make positive change, and this in turn will help to boost your own morale during these weird and difficult times. It’s ok to seek things that make you feel good at the moment, and it’s also ok to reside in those moments of feeling like you’re making a positive difference to the places you love, completely distanced from the current situation.

As an individual, we have incredible capacity to make change. We are consumers, voters and members of the community.

I see our actions as falling into 3 categories:

Individual actions

Awareness, inspiration and education

Being an active citizen

Let’s start with:

Individual actions

These don’t just actively reduce your own carbon footprint and plastic consumption, but can enable your voice as a consumer, which sends a strong message to the big companies that have the power in their hands to make even bigger changes.

So let’s look at some things you might not have had chance to do in your usual busy life.

1. Switch your electricity supplier

   Are you still buying electricity from non-renewable sources? There are several electricity suppliers now that offer 100% renewable electricity, and some even have a portion of their gas coming from bio-gas. Do some investigation into your current supplier, and if they’re not up to scratch, consider switching to a renewable supplier. A note of caution - some renewable suppliers are using small scale hydro-electric installations to create energy, which often cause severe ecological damage. A lot of renewable energy suppliers have really competitive rates; if you do switch, make sure you tell your current supplier why you’ve done so - they need to know that their consumers don’t want to be using fossil fuels any more.

2. Switch Your Bank

   Does your bank invest your money in the fossil fuel or plastics industries? Again, check out where your bank invests your precious money. If it’s not immediately obvious, then ask the direct question of them. If they are investing in things that don’t sit well with you, consider changing your bank to one which invests solely in projects, charities and companies that are good for the planet, such as COOP bank or Triodos Bank. Again, make sure you tell your bank why you’ve left them, and ask them to get with the programme!

3. Declutter your house and donate your unwanted stuff to a charity shop

   You might not be able to physically take your stuff to a charity shop at present, but once shops reopen, it will provide people with second hand clothes instead of investing in brand new fast fashion which is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions globally. Living with less stuff also helps to keep you in the present moment, grateful for your belongings and clearer-headed to be able to tackle big environmental issues head on.

4. Repair your kit.

   Take this time now that we have to repair or clean any clothes or kit that is still functional but needs a bit of TLC, rather than ditching it and buying new. Check out the Patagonia Worn Wear website for some tips on how to do this, or look on YouTube for tips on repairing specific items. This will not only lower your carbon footprint but also your plastic footprint as a lot of clothing is made from plastic-based polymers.

5. Invest in a Guppy Bag

   If you haven’t yet got hold of a Guppy Bag, now could be a great time to give it a go. It’s a bag that your clothes go in inside the washing machine to prevent plastic microfibres from escaping down the drain and into our waterways. 

Awareness, Inspiration, Education.

A big role as an individual that cares about this stuff is learning as much as you can, and passing on that awareness and inspiring others to care too. There are lots of ways you can further your own education, and lots of resources you can direct friends and family members too to get them involved as well.

1. Learn as much as you can

   Take an online course: check out the UN Climate Change Learning Partnership (UN CC:Learn). Read big long blogs that you hadn’t had time to really chew over before. I love this blog from Save Our Rivers and its associated links. Read charity’s websites and all the information on there - for example City To Sea has some brilliant information about plastic pollution and how to do your bit. There are also lots of blogs on my Paddle Against Plastic website.

2. Get Inspired

   For some inspiration, check out Netflix’s range of ocean films, including Chasing Coral, Mission Blue and the Our Planet Series. My films Vitamin Sea and Skye’s The Limit are also online for the next few weeks to watch too.

3. Home-schooling

   The beauty of home-schooling is you’re able to choose what your family learns about. You can directly choose to teach your kids about the amazing animals in the oceans, plastic pollution and climate change. I can strongly recommend the Wild Tribe Heroes books and Michelle Cassar’s Seb and Polly Planet on their Ocean Quest for bed time reading. There are also some brilliant people doing Insta and Facebook live videos specifically learning about ocean creatures and environmental issues - check out @stompycole and @ruby_free_ on Instagram.

4. Read those books you’ve had on your shelf but never got round to opening

   I can recommend This Is Not A Drill by Extinction Rebellion, There Is No Planet B, Let My People Go Surfing by Yvonne Chouinard and Tools for Grassroots Activists by Patagonia. There are loads of books giving specific tips on eco-living too, such as Nat Fee’s How To Save the Planet for Free, and Jen Gale’s Sustanable(ish) Living Guide.

5. Spread the word

   If you find it beneficial for your mental health rather than detrimental, take this opportunity to get active on social media, or even better to call your pals or family to talk specifically about what you’re learning or what you care about! You can even set up your own mini online conference call to share your findings with your friends - Zoom and Houseparty are two apps that let you have face to face group video calls where you can chat and discuss.

Active citizen - lobbying government

Your voice as a citizen is powerful. You have the ability to vote, but you also have the ability to specifically ask things of your MP. They have a duty to take note of their constituents’ concerns. Write a letter - actually hand write a letter telling your MP just how much your local environment means to you, and how important it is that s/he put measures into place to protect it. If you feel able, tell them your personal story of what nature provides for you and your family’s health, and how precious it is to preserve. Let them know how much you care about legislation to reduce single use plastic, and that you’d like them to support movements such as the deposit return scheme in parliament. There are some great draft letters on Surfers Against Sewage’s website.

These are very strange times. It’s important that we stay focussed on what we need to be doing right now wth regard to coronavirus, and protecting ourselves and our loved ones, but I also don't think it’s the wrong thing to do to distract ourselves every now and again with focussing on something we’re passionate about. I hope these tips help, and please let me know how you get on! And thanks for protecting what you love.

2. How to stay connected to the ocean… even if you can’t be there

Best described in the video below. Warning, it contains my mum in wellies.

Even if you're miles away from the ocean on lockdown, here are 3 ways to maintain that connection. They might not be what you expected... Links to my films, ...

3. Mastering the Endurance Mindset

This is something I often talk about, bringing tales and learning from my endurance expeditions into every day situations, in particular big, daunting projects. I feel that this is as relevant as ever for getting through this unspecified amount of time, and really hope it helps you to acknowledge that it is hard, but there are also simple techniques available to you to help.

Blog here.