Change the status row:

Caroline Wilson, Jess Rego and Susan Ronaldson are 3 ordinary women, with one shared passion; the ocean.

Together they form the Status Row team.

This December they are racing in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in support of the Marine Conservation Society's 'Clean Seas’ programme which aims to develop innovative solutions for cleaning up the ocean.

"If we fail to stop the continued pollution of the oceans, we are facing the potential extinction of many sea life species and the interruption of the entire ecosystem."

Status Row will be rowing non-stop for 50 days, in an attempt to become the fastest, and second ever female trio to row across the Atlantic.

A notoriously gruelling race, the team will be rowing for 12 hours a day, to complete the 3,000-mile row from the Canaries to Antigua, in hopes of inspiring individuals and communities to reduce their plastic pollution.

"We believe change starts with the individual and hope to inspire others to make positive changes to their everyday habits."

Every minute, there is 8 tonnes of plastic dumped into the sea, and if this carries on, by 2050 there could be more plastic in the sea than fish.

Richard Thompson, a professor of marine biology at the University of Plymouth says plastic pollution is a global problem that needs to be controlled in an attempt to significantly reduce its effect on the ocean.

"Around 70 per cent of all the litter in the oceans is made of plastic. Plastic pollution can be harmful to wildlife, human well-being and to economies on a global scale.

“There is extensive evidence that entanglement in, or ingestion of, plastics can cause injury and death to a wide range of marine organisms, including commercially important fish and shellfish.

“Plastic pollution is also hazardous for mariners and reduces the amenity value of coastlines necessitating costly ongoing clean-up operations.

“Globally, production of plastics exceeds 300 million tonnes per annum and it is likely that a similar quantity of plastics will be produced in the next eight years as was produced in the whole of the 20th century."

Each member of the team is willing to tackle this mentally and physically challenging race in the fight against the plastic tide. They will face a constant battle of sleep deprivation, salt sores and the physical extremes of rowing.

Caroline Wilson, a web developer living in Hackney, London, is a vegan and keen runner and cyclist. Wilson is a believer in leaving the world in a better state than she inherited it, which is her motivation behind this row.

Jess Rego, a long-time activist and a Bermudian, has always found the ocean has a strong and important presence in her life. Rego strongly believes in the power of everyday changes and that plastic prevention is the real solution we need.

Susan Ronaldson, Essex, is drawn to the sea and passionately believes in preserving our beautiful blue planet. Ronaldson is motivated to complete this race inspired by the idea that life is precious and wanting to make every day count.

The plastic tide is growing by 8 million tonnes per year. Around 80% of the 8 million tonnes of plastic comes from land-based sources, with the remainder coming from the shipping and fishing industry. Land plastics come from either primary or secondary sources.

Primary sources are waste plastic from the manufacturing industry, these are small plastic pellets known as 'nurdles' or ‘mermaid tears.’ Whereas, secondary sources are plastic litter, such as bottles, food packaging, polyester clothing and fishing line.

"It is without question that plastics bring many societal benefits, however it is evident that most of these benefits could be realised without the need for the release of plastics, to the natural environment," said Thompson.

One of the major problems with tackling plastic pollution is identifying where the plastics end up once they enter the oceans and seas. So far, scientists can only account for 1% of the total plastic in our oceans. They still can't account for the missing 99%.

"Plastic pollution in the sea is a symptom of a more systemic issue originating on land and related to the design, the use and the disposal of plastic items, particularly single-use packaging.

“To reduce it, a key priority is to focus on interventions and stewardship to help reduce the quantity of plastic waste generated by society and the associated release of litter to the ocean," said Thompson.

Like Status Row, there are other activists out there wanting to make a change in order to help our oceans eco-system.

Surfers Against Sewage, or SAS, is a grassroots movement and is now one of the UK's most active and successful environmental charities. They are committed to the protection of the oceans, beaches and its wildlife.

"Fighting plastic pollution in our oceans has rapidly become Surfers Against Sewage’s priority issue. Our beaches are awash with single use plastic bottles and we desperately need new systems to reuse, recycle and up-cycle them more effectively," says Hugo Tagholm, Chief Executive of Surfers Against Sewage.

The SAS have had many successful campaigns such as 'Message In A Bottle’ which helped parliament action the bottle deposit return scheme in England, and their more recent ‘Plastic Free Parliament’ campaign which challenges MPs to create a plastic free parliament.

According to their own investigation, there were over 2 million avoidable single-use plastic items that are purchased by the House of Commons and House of Lords in 2017. The 'Plastic Free Parliament' campaign calls on the public to contact their local MP to reduce their plastic waste.

Andrew Mitchell, the MP for Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, is in support of the 'Plastic Free Parliament' campaign.

"Without urgent action to cut demand, plastic production is likely to reach 34 billion tonnes by 2050, the majority of which will end up in landfill or polluting the world’s continents and oceans. Re-using and recycling plastics is critical.

“Many will be pleased to know that none of Parliament’s waste goes to landfill, with Parliament operating a mixed recycling scheme which captures paper, cardboard, plastics and cans, resulting in the recycling of as much waste as possible. In addition, my Parliamentary colleagues continue to explore new opportunities to recycle and recover waste.

The campaign was created after the Government launched its 25-year environmental plan which commits the Government to working to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste over its lifetime. It sets out a four-point plan for action at each stage of the product lifecycle: production, consumption and end of life. All of this should result in reduction of the demand and use of single-use plastic.

"I am pleased that Parliament is currently reviewing the use of single use disposable plastics and is actively involved in a range of initiatives and pilot schemes looking to reduce the amount of plastic thrown away on the estate.

“One example of this is the sourcing a new reusable cup which will be sold in both retail and catering outlets for visitors as well as pass holders. I hope that this will encourage people to think about the amount of plastic they use and will result in the reduction of plastic use across the estate," said Mitchell.

"We can do this by being more 'resource efficient', which not only eases pressure on the environment and our stocks of natural resource but reduces costs too, boosting productivity."

Helping the fight against plastic pollution can start on an individual or community level, making one change at a time.

“You ask what we can start doing as a community to help reducing our plastic waste: I think we need to stop producing so much waste in the first place.

“We can do this by being more 'resource efficient', which not only eases pressure on the environment and our stocks of natural resource but reduces costs too, boosting productivity.”

Status Row will commence their gruelling challenge in December 2018, in the fight against the plastic tide. If you want to keep up to date with their row, you can do through their Twitter page, or through their website. You can also donate towards their row and the cause they are supporting here.

Equally, if you want to get involved or donate to the fight against plastic pollution, you can do here.