Lizzie Carr, MBE is an inspiring eco-campaigner who overcame cancer in her twenties and quit her mundane job to become a successful lifestyle, travel, and environmental campaigner. Her passion for the outdoors, and for paddle-boarding in particular, has influenced her focus on water pollution, lobbying the British government to do far more to improve the state of our waterways. She is also the founder of Planet Patrol, a non-profit organisation that uses people power and data collection to help hold those in charge accountable and force them to actually do something about the dangerous amounts of litter and pollution in our water.

The early years of Carr’s adult life were as “normal” for a millennial Brit as one could expect. She settled down into a corporate job that she didn’t really like and lived for holidays and the rare moments she could spend time outside. After realising that running around the career hamster-wheel wasn’t making her happy, she took off and went eco-travelling across parts of China and Russia. Shortly after returning home to her old routine, she was diagnosed with cancer. She was 26.

Carr fought and overcame the cancer, and on recovery, she knew she had to make profound changes to her life. She quit her job, despite having no clear of what would happen next, and threw herself into travel and lifestyle blogging. In 2016, she launched Planet Patrol, and in 2018, she made international news when she travelled the length of the 315-mile Hudson River in America on a stand-up paddleboard, raising awareness of plastic pollution.