In June 2018 Chris Johnson joined Sail Britain’s trip exploring sea plastics in the Western Isles of Scotland. Led by Alice Kettle, award winning inventor of the Nurdle Kit and Surfers Against Sewage regional rep for Western Scotland, the team of eight spent the week beach cleaning, trawling the seas for plastics, and interrogating the topic with researchers and campaigners on board. In the pristine looking waters and coastlines they found micorplastics used in cosmetics, waste washed from the land and shipping, and nurdles from local plastic manufacturing plants.

“Perhaps the most striking moment for me was a realisation whilst washing up: Glancing at the bottle of Fairy Liquid, emblazoned with the royal stamp, I noticed the hazards sign. The usual text about keeping safe form children and eyes didn’t surprise me (perhaps it should), but the sentence “harmful for aquatic life with long plastic effects’ was poignant in the circumstance. Toxic products are literally at the heart of our everyday lives, and the impacting the wider environment across the world. Its time for change.” Chris Johnson, Co-Founder RAW

Check out the video made on the trip made by crew member James – Stage 3 Films: