Chris Hines | Birthing Surfers Against Sewage

I originally recorded this episode with Chris Hines, EP 17, seven years ago.

I’ve decided to repost it now.

Which I will get into more in a lengthier post to follow.

This week in the UK we had the launch of the Channel 4 real life drama series - Dirty Business

A three part doc-drama based on a decade-long investigation into England’s water companies, it follows the story of two unlikely citizen detectives who notice that the fish in their local river are dying and are determined to find out why.

Telling the real stories of whistleblowers and victims who believe their lives have been destroyed after encountering sewage polluted water, Dirty Business is a factual drama investigating one of the biggest corporate scandals in British history.

And it is well worth a watch.

It also features Chris Hines (through an actor) - surfer, environmentalist, sustainability innovator who over 35 years ago co-founded environmental surf charity Surfers Against Sewage in Cornwall UK.

Their work has been pivotal over the years in connecting the human shit in the seas and rivers to the gross negligence of the privatised water companies, extractive economics and short term politics.

This conversation I hosted with Chris in Dublin back in 2019 explores that journey, what was happening at that time in the early 90’s and what drove Chris and fellow founders to build out this movement despite having no real idea what they were up against and with absolutely no resources.

But this is a story to inspire all of us, that if you care enough about something then go and make stuff happen.

It’s worth a listen in my view because it’s more relevant today for those who are feeling outrage and fury about all manner of things around them and want to do something about it.

How with no resources and getting creative and working with your community extraordinary things can and do happen.

And how once you begin, you will find many others who are experiencing the same thing, and then a movement starts to grow.

This was also pre-internet and there’s a lot about organising in that time which I think might be useful to revisit right now.

Chris is wise, humble, a true elder - I really feel we could do with more intergenerational connectivity between activists and grassroots movements and organisers right now.

Let me know what you receive if you listen and do share with others that might appreciate it

Enjoy!

Dan