Interview with Hannah Beaumont, Environmental Activist and Ambassador for Waterhaul

1.    What motivated you to start picking up litter and cleaning beaches?
    When I used to live in Yorkshire, my grandparents used to go up the local country lanes picking up litter and I did little bits. When I moved to Devon, seeing what was washed up on the beaches made me step it up a gear and since 2019, I haven’t looked back. I’m also a huge David Attenborough fan, and all his works inspire me to keep going. 

2.    Can you share a memorable experience you’ve had while cleaning up litter?
    I have taken part in lots of litter picking fundraising challenges. Recently I picked up 75,000 pieces of litter over 2 days raising over £1000 for a local women’s centre to represent that statistic that annually 75,000 people are at high risk of being murdered or seriously injured from domestic abuse. 

3.    What advice would you give to people who want to reduce plastic use in their daily lives?
Start small. There are lots of small changes anyone can make, such as changing your toothbrush, deodorant or other hygiene products. 

4.    As an ambassador for Waterhaul, how do you see its role in fighting plastic pollution?
Waterhaul are a fab company, they make products from traceable marine plastic and as a company do lots of beach cleans too!

5.    What can teenagers do to help protect the environment?
It’s super easy to get started with litter picking. You only really need a bin bag and some gloves or a picker to get going. Encouraging recycling and learning more about where your rubbish goes is really helpful and that way your knowledge can be used to tell and encourage others too.