It’s been two busy months since Starboard last met up with Watertrek Foundation during the Protect Blue Conference in Noli. Our visit to the Lingurian Coast allowed us to catch up with our French-British partner organisation in all things SUP and environment, and we got to hear about their role in bringing SUP to the ongoing Plastic Ocean Festival in London.
Screenings of the documentary A Plastic Ocean have been going on at the festival for several months now, and the Watertrek team has been busy raising awareness about the plastic pollution’s effects on our waterways. Alongside the screenings, the foundation has also offered paddle sessions to get people on the water, connecting education with action and providing a first-hand experience of the issues that face our waters.
The latest clean up was done in Thames river along at Tidefest on September 10th 2017. Plastic Ocean Festival joined forces with Tidefest for a Paddle & Pick with their partner Active 360 and later gathered for a screening of the festival’s important documentary film (you can watch the trailerhere). Participants were able to engage in discussions about the film and the critical issue it sheds some much needed light on.
Coming up this week, Watertrek will take part in the Putney Foreshore Festival in London. On Saturday 23rd people will take to the Thames river for an exciting SUP race event. Watertrek will kick off the day with a mass paddle clean-up on the river. They hope to engage both amateurs and experienced paddlers to get on boards and pick up trash from Kew Bridge to Putney – raising awareness of the plastic that plagues the heart of London through SUP.
The Big Ben SUP Challenges will follow the clean-up with a 20 km Big Ben Race and a 10 km endurance paddle challenge. Watertrek will be running activities and represent their foundation at the event, and doing what they do best: enlighten and inspire to help clean the waters of the world.
