#2 Jo Royle
Navigating Toward Cleaner Seas
In this episode, I had the pleasure of talking to the brilliant Jo Royle, a former ocean racing skipper and founder of Common Seas, a non-profit working to tackle plastic pollution in our rivers and seas.
Jo's journey is pretty extraordinary. She has skippered boats across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, across the Antarctic Circle, and even to the Sundarbans (tune in if you don’t know where the Sundarbans are).
Her most significant venture afloat, though, might be co-designing and skippering the Plastiki. This 60-foot catamaran, made from 12,000 repurposed plastic bottles, sailed 8,000 miles across the Pacific – sparking a crucial conversation on marine plastic pollution.
Jo is now the founder of Common Seas, a non-profit organisation dedicated to reducing marine plastic pollution. In our chat, we delve into some of Common Seas' key initiatives, including their startling research that found microplastics in human blood.
From the high seas to the forefront of ocean conservation, her journey is one of perseverance – demonstrating what can be achieved when tackling one of our planet's most pressing issues.
Tune in to hear more about Jo's remarkable story and her impactful work at Common Seas.
Listen to the episode on
Chapters
(00:00) Intro
(00:58) Jo’s connection to the Ocean
(02:35) Lessons from Sailing
(03:28) Toughest Challenges at Sea
(06:14) The Plastiki Project
(08:47) Changes in Plastic Pollution Awareness
(11:38) Microplastics on the South Pole
(13:55) Balancing Demand and Impact
(17:19) Approaches to Tackling Plastic Pollution
(22:18) Bonus Round
(25:19) Final Thoughts
