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Lizzie Carr MBE

@lizzie_outside

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Environmental storyteller • Campaigner • x3 World Firsts • Founder @onplanetpatrol • Author #paddlingbritain • Cancer Survivor

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Britain’s relationship with water has never felt more fraught. As drought grips swathes of England and its rivers carry more contamination than ever recorded, one woman has spent the past decade trying to make the invisible visible 🛶⁠
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Lizzie Carr MBE (@lizzie_outside) swapped a career in marketing for a paddleboard, and turned a personal health scare into a global environmental mission. Through record-breaking expeditions and the citizen-science app @onplanetpatrol, she has helped hundreds of thousands of people see, for the first time, exactly what is flowing through the water around them.⁠
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Read the full interview by @lisa.grainger at the link in bio 🔗⁠ by @lizzie_outside

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2 months ago

📢 NEW PADDLE BOARDING LITTER PICK DATES HAVE JUST DROPPED FOR AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER - NATIONWIDE! Head to @onplanetpatrol to book a spot, limited spaces are available so be quick!

🌊 no previous paddling experience needed
🌊 we provide all the kit and equipment, you just need to turn up ready to get involved
🌊 it’s completely free to take part (there is fully refundable £10 deposit to secure your space)
🌊 you’ll record all the litter you collect in the Planet Patrol litter tracking up helping us to collect evidence and hold big brands and government to account

Anything else you want to know? Drop me a DM or ask in the comments. taken in United Kingdom by @lizzie_outside

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2 months ago

Bouys bouys bouys #islesofscilly #paddleboarding by @lizzie_outside

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3 months ago

100/10 bench… this place is magic 🪄 #islesofscilly #england by @lizzie_outside

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3 months ago

We tracked the litter and now we’re tracing it back.

Planet Patrol analysed more than 21,000 pieces of litter collected across the UK last year to continue building our understanding of what ends up in our environment and why.

Planet Patrol’s 2025 litter data shows a clear and consistent pattern: litter in the UK continues to be dominated by a relatively narrow set of single-use products, produced by a small number of major companies and made largely from plastic.

Now it’s time to follow the evidence and support our recommendations to help prevent litter at source.

Read the full report via the link in our bio and help us #TraceItBack by @lizzie_outside

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4 months ago

AD Your bank doesn’t just hold money - it uses it. 
The latest Banking on Climate Chaos Report dropped last week and the numbers are staggering. In the decade since the Paris Agreement, the world’s biggest banks have poured nearly $9 trillion into fossil fuels. It’s a system many people don’t see, but it plays a huge role in shaping the world around us.

The good news is that alternatives do exist.

Some banks choose not to finance the fossil fuel industry and instead focus on funding projects with positive environmental and social impact.

For full transparency, this year I’ve been working with @triodosuk on a paid partnership. I think it’s so important that people are more informed about the impact of their banking decisions and know about alternatives. Triodos Bank does not finance the fossil fuel industry and publishes every loan it makes, so you can see how money is being used.

So, now you know. You can make an informed choice.

Sources:
2026 Banking on Climate Chaos report
Triodos Bank Climate & Nature Strategy
International Energy Agency (IEA)
World Bank Population Data by @lizzie_outside

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4 months ago

This is an easy, free and fun way to connect with nature - and not just for little ones - for everyone. We strolled round the garden and before we know it we had both completely zoned into the rhythm - looking for flowers but also noticing nature burst to life all around us. We found an abandoned nest, heard some birds chirping in one of our bird boxes (then saw a Blue Tit fly in there), saw butterflies, a frog, baby fish in the pond and lots of other bugs and insects we would have missed otherwise. taken in United Kingdom by @lizzie_outside

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5 months ago

Whilst about 30% of Northern Ireland’s water storm overflows spill raw sewage into Lough Neagh (106 directly and 618 indirectly via rivers), and taken found resistance genes spanning multiple antibiotic classes, this is NOT an isolated issue.

And, to be precise, 2,379 deaths linked to AMR in England were recorded in 2024 (not last year, we don’t have these figures yet).

Solutions? Multiple - but an obvious one, in my view, is better technology at wastewater plants to capture and remove AMR, less untreated discharges, and stronger direct regulations in place for rivers.

Sources: WHO, The Guardian, Watershed Investigations, UK Health Security Agency taken in Northern Ireland by @lizzie_outside

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6 months ago

Our wastewater systems are geared up to remove organic matter, solids and ammonia not more complex compounds… and we all know that money where money that could have been spent improving infrastructure has gone…

The EU is looking at moving to a 4th treatment stage which would help tackle this better and remove a higher percentage of meds, chemicals and bacteria, but we’re not bound to those standards in England.

Whilst we have the flexibility to match or exceed them, in all likelihood we won’t do either (at least not yet!)

Sources: The Guardian, Science Direct, Chem Trust, Watershed Investigations taken in United Kingdom by @lizzie_outside

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6 months ago

Marking Earth Day this year with a throwback to the time I trundled across London as part of the March of Clean Water protest dressed as a giant inflatable poo 💩

If you know me or followed along over the years, you’ll know I’m very passionate (and protective) over our waterways and what they can do for our mental and physical wellbeing.

Want to do something to help protect our rivers and other inland waterways? Great. I set @onplanetpatrol up almost 10 years ago to make sure everyone who wanted to contribute, could. Visit the website, and it’s full of different ways to take action… here’s a few:

💩 sign up to be water quality tester in you local area (order a test kit and record water health over 12 weeks)
♻️ join one of our paddle boarding litter picks across the country (no experience needed, and we provide all the equipment)
🗑️ head out today and do a small litter pick (literally, right now if you wanted, and record what you collect in the Planet Patrol app
👀 record signs of pollution or incidents near you (water pollution, fly tipping or anything else) in the Planet Patrol app too. We map these and investigate what we can too!
📈 take part in our observational surveys - spend just 15 minutes at your local waterway looking out for signs of wildlife, invasive species, water quality and more and complete our short survey in the app

Basically the Planet Patrol app (on iOS and Android) is your tool for good. To collect data across lots of environmental issues for us to analyse and use as evidence to push for change, so never underestimate the power of your contribution, whatever that looks like.

Happy Earth Day 🌍 taken in United Kingdom by @lizzie_outside

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6 months ago

Oh, and that’s down from 36 the year before.

State-owned fossil fuel producers made up 17 of the top 20 emitters. All 17 are controlled by countries that opposed a proposed fossil fuel phaseout at the Cop30 UN climate summit in December, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and India (whilst more than 80 other nations had backed the phaseout plan).

Sources: This is data based on 2024 figures in a study from Carbon Majors, The Guardian by @lizzie_outside

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6 months ago

The immediate and long term impact of road run off aren’t fully understood - and that’s what makes it so scary. Right now it’s estimated to be the third largest pollution source in our rivers (after sewage and agriculture) but if it’s barely monitored or regulated (97% of road drains are unmapped!) then the impact is likely to be far higher. It’s utterly destroying our aquatic ecosystems and it’s poisonous to human health, yet whilst we’re all distracted by the countless other issues affecting our rivers, this one continues to go unchecked and it needs more recognition.

Please have a look the incredible work that @stormwatershepherdsuk is doing more on this. taken in United Kingdom by @lizzie_outside

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