Kikplastic 2019
If you follow our blogs and social media, you will know that we have followed Kiko Matthews over the past year or two and you will know what amazing challenges she has overcome. Among other things, in March 2018, Kiko became the fastest woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a solo rower. She did this 3284 mile row in 49 days, 7 hours and 15 minutes, which is a whole week faster than the previous record holder. Kiko is now taking on a different challenge; cycling the coast of the UK and Northern Ireland with the intention of raising awareness of the problem of single use plastic.
In recent years, the dramatic effects that plastics are having on the environment and the world’s oceans has been much more publicised and more steps are being taken towards the prevention of the amount of plastic. The amount of plastic straws being used has been cut down drastically, people are carrying reusable coffee cups, metal and glass bottles are becoming more and more popular and cotton buds have been changed from plastic to paper stems. Shops are slowly taking steps towards reducing their plastic consumption as well, with new plastic free aisles being introduced by various companies. This change won’t happen overnight however and so the work that people like Kiko are doing is helping to educate the public and support everyone in their steps to being more conscious of single use plastic.
In May, Kiko is going to be setting off on her 7200km cycle and might be coming to a coast line near you! Setting off from Margate on the 5th of May and returning to London on the 28th of July, she is encouraging people to join her on the journey. To find out if she’ll be coming close to you, head to her website, https://www.kikomatthews.co.uk/kik-plastic, and the icons on the map locate where she will be and when. It is people and their consumption that is causing this damage to the environment and wildlife and if we don’t make a change and try and support people like Kiko, then it will not get better.
