After The Litter Pick Paddle Trip – A conversation with India Pearson
Following her last feature in Bloom in Doom magazine, Emily chats with India, who updates us on everything following her stand-up paddleboard trip in June.
India Pearson - The Litter Pick Paddle Tripper. Illustration by Laura Cuppage.
The fruits of her labour. India standing with the 2 minute beach clean board, which her fundraiser trip raised money to purchase. Photo by India Pearson.
In August this year, I was delighted to come across India on Instagram. She is an environmental activist, yoga teacher and stand-up paddle boarder who, following noticing a build-up of litter along the Military Canal near her home in Kent, took the opportunity to do something incredible and make a difference in her community.
In October, India told me about her 28-mile long litter-pick along the Military Canal, where she exceeded her fundraising target to secure a 2minutebeachclean board for her local beach in Hythe. This fundraiser is still accepting donations with the goal of raising enough funds to secure a second board, which encourages visitors to collect litter across the coastline.
I talked recently with India about the events that have followed since we last spoke. India told me about what the funds raised from her litter pick went towards.
The newly-installed board arrived in September 2020 and is being looked after by the Loaf by the Sea café, attached to the Hythe & Saltwood Sailing Club on Hythe’s Marine Parade. In June 2020, I broke my £500 target, raising money for a 2 Minute Beach Clean Station in Hythe. So far I have raised £740 for the 2 Minute Foundation, and am now looking to top the money up with another fundraiser next year so we can get a second beach clean board in the area.
In an article written about India’s fundraiser in her local magazine The Looker, Hannah at Loaf mentioned that the board had “caused a lot of interest” and that “Families with children have made use of the litter-picking kit in particular, and the board acts as a really useful reminder to dispose of litter more thoughtfully.”
India with her dog Merlin, standing with the board at Hythe beach. The board is looked after and maintained by local café, Loaf. Photo by India Pearson.
When India last spoke with Bloom in Doom Magazine, , she mentioned that the most unusual item that she found on her paddle trip was a full neoprene fisherman’s wader suit with attached boots.
“They were in good quality and I felt I could have a second life so I contacted a local designer in Deal, Lorna Doyle, who specialises in producing bags and other items from discarded wetsuits. It just shows how one person's trash can be another person's treasure. Lorna does this to so many unwanted wetsuits that would otherwise end up in landfill. Lorna has gone on to turn the waders into a beautiful range of bags that have been showcased at Canterbury Festival and sold to the public with a % of profits going back to the fundraiser”
From waders to a wonderous new set of repurposed bags. Lorna Doyle repurposes old wetsuits into beautiful new items. Photos by India Pearson and Lorna Doyle.
You can now watch India’s journey in her ‘zero-budget, zero-tech, zero-waste film documenting the #LITTERPICKPADDLETRIP’ on Youtube. India describes the film on her Instagram page @with_india. “The film follows my solo paddle boarding and litter-picking adventure along the Royal Military Canal between East Sussex and Kent to raise money for a @2minutebeachclean station in Hythe. I wanted to make this film to continue raising awareness and highlight the damage litter has on our waterways, whilst finding solutions to the problem, too.”
The Litter Pick Paddle Trip. Film now available to watch free on YouTube. Photo by India Pearson.
EMILY GILFORD
Emily is a Zoology BSc (Hons) and Ecology MSc graduate from the University of Exeter, currently based in Cornwall. Her interests lie in animal behaviour and blue health. Over the past few years, Emily has managed The Beach Clean Project in Cornwall, connecting people over a mutual love of keeping our coastlines clean. Emily enjoys being out with her camera spotting wildlife and learning as much as she can. Emily is an online article editor and contributor here at Bloom in Doom. Find her on Instagram @emilygilford