Alison Teal: Surfing Waves for Environmental Justice
By Taylon Faltas
Alison Teal is a survivalist, world traveler, hula dancer, surfer, filmmaker, free-diver, environmentalist, and was named by Time magazine as the female Indiana Jones—what can’t she do? Alison’s passion for environmental advocacy allowed her to break into the spotlight during the first season of Discovery Channel’s Naked and Afraid and has been paving ways for environmental policies ever since she began traveling the globe as a child.
We met for a chat at a beach in Kona—for Alison, the beach is her office. I immediately spotted her pink bikini (made from recycled materials) from 50 yards away. With her contagious and inspiring smile, Alison led the conversation for nearly three hours, spiced with continuous laughter. What I learned from this conversation left me in shock about how much waste humans produce every day, including the “compostable” cups our chai teas were in.
Alison had an unconventional childhood. Her father was a freelance travel photographer for National Geographic and Patagonia, and her mother is an expert yoga instructor. Together, the three of them traveled the world, allowing Alison to experience some epic encounters before age seven that many people wonʻt experience in their lifetime.
Alison has done nearly everything, from climbing in the “Mount Everest” of Nepal in the middle of a snowstorm to get to school, to meeting a 140-year-old wandering holy man in the mountains of India. Her travels have given her a unique perspective on some of life’s greatest treasures that have shaped her understanding of our responsibility as humans to take care of our beloved planet.
After all that travel, Hawai‘i Island is where her family felt most at home. Growing up in an off-grid treehouse handmade by her parents on the beach in South Kona granted Alison experiences she carries with her to this day. “The most inspiring people in my life are the ones in some of the most remote places in the world. Uncle Tony and Damien of our Ho‘okena community are people that will always influence my life. Charlie Grace of our Hōnaunau community would teach us how to make a fish hook out of natural materials using traditional Hawaiian methods,” she shared, “He used to say, ‘Life is like a canoe, and we are in it together.’ It’s these people that mean the most to me. That’s my attitude of gratitude.”
After attending the University of Southern California where she double majored in film and theater, and studying archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, Alison combined her passion for the planet and her aptitude for filmmaking to create fun, educational videos on environmental justice issues near and dear to her heart. One was filmed in the Maldives on the infamous “Trash Island,” where she repurposed some of the trash she collected to make the signature pink bikini she donned for our chat. She even paddled through a plastic-riddled Los Angeles river to help efforts in banning plastic use globally.
In her 2013 episode of Naked and Afraid, Alison found herself on a remote Maldivian island (where she discovered Trash Island), paired for 21 days with a former Marine. In that brutal environment, Alison’s survival skills emerged and she showed her relentless girl-power.
“I had to rethink my Hawaiian roots during my time on that island,” she explained, “We don’t know what we have in us until we’re faced with a situation like what I was in [on the show]. It was very real; no one was feeding us hamburgers when the cameras were off. One thing you always have to pack for a trip like that is humor and aloha spirit.”
“My dream was to change the world by influencing through the media, but I never thought I would do it sitting naked on an island,” she said with a smirk.
And change, she brought.
“It’s a lot of work and sheer determination being a girl entrepreneur from humble roots, trying to do what I can to survive and thrive in this world that I’m trying to save. It comes down to your community—to be able to create a mutual trust with people you meet all around the world. It’s about thinking and acting both locally and globally to connect a worldwide ‘ohana,” she explained. By paddling through Ballona Creek in Los Angeles in the video she created in 2016 (with two million views to date), Alison sparked some of the massive public concern over California’s plastic consumption problem. In turn, Proposition 67 was passed in California that same year—making California the second US state (after Hawai‘i) to ban plastic bags. In 2018, she made waves throughout Hawai‘i in an effort to ban toxic sunscreens to help protect our coral reefs, a step that will directly impact future generations. That ban went into effect at the beginning of 2021.
Alison’s primary message is that anyone can make a difference when it comes to helping the environment; not everyone capable of change needs to have experienced what she has to have an appreciation for it. Ironically, Alison actually longed for a “normal” childhood for as long as she could remember because she was always on the go. “I wanted slumber parties and friends—growing up this way has shown me that it’s important to have a sense of balance. I love calling everywhere I’ve been my home, but also having a true, permanent home was something I wanted. Thatʻs why our Hawai‘i treehouse is such a treasure to me!”
Because she’s had so many amazing experiences around the world, Alison recently wrote her first book about her life and how she’s used these experiences to shed light on major environmental problems. Alison’s Adventures: Your Passport to the World is the ultimate page-turner for any reader in need of a little second-hand adventure. “I had to write this book about my adventures. I thought, ‘If I start writing my own stories, someone will understand the importance of preserving our wonderful world.’ I was able to dive into all kinds of crazy, unimaginable scenarios and educational tidbits in my storytelling,” she noted.
Unfortunately, the book tour Alison had planned after the official release was abruptly canceled due to COVID-19—in fact, she had already landed in London for the first leg of her tour when she heard the news. Despite this setback, Alison was determined to reach her audience. “Writing this book has given me a voice to show people what I want to say about the environment. The real soul food is seeing the events of change after each adventure. Living outside the coconut is what my parents have always fostered and inspired in me, and I wanted to share that with the world through my book.”
Though she didn’t get to interact face-to-face with her fans, she gravitated back to her filmmaking expertise to reach her audience through the TikTok app. She recently exceeded one million followers who enjoy her entertaining and educational 60-second videos about her ocean adventures and global triumphs. Itʻs been a useful resource for Alison, as the urgency of climate change and environmental accountability has seemingly taken a back seat amidst the pandemic.
“If you can go outside and fall in love with nature, I promise you will want to protect it, so that’s what I’ve been trying to do with my TikTok videos lately,” Alison explained, “Human health is just as important as environmental health and is very intertwined. My heart goes out to my global ‘ohana and everyone affected by this pandemic. If we really don’t want to be stuck indoors with masks on in the future, maybe it’s time to stop polluting the earth through toxic shampoos, sunscreens, and everything else that’s harming it,” she continued. Through TikTok, she can spark environmental awareness to her viewers that are watching from home.
“My advice for people who really want to start making a difference is to stop buying single-use plastics. The ocean is our greatest treasure and it shouldn’t take much to fall in love with your ‘āina. If you truly love diving into a crystal-clear ocean, making these changes should be a no-brainer,” she expressed.
“The earth is alive, it’s an entity. I really think community is the key to mending what we’ve already destroyed. It takes a village, because not just one person planted a rice crop, for example. It takes everyone working together in a symbiotic relationship. I never set out to be an environmentalist. From Trash Island to the reefs in front of my home in Hawai‘i, I have seen the impact we’ve had on our planet and when you see it, you can’t ignore it. Now that people, especially the future generations, are diving into my stories, it gives me hope that everyone can see it, believe it, and make a change.” ❖
For more information:
alisonsadventures.com
Instagram & TikTok: @alisonsadventures
Ballona Creek video: youtube.com/watch?v=EM0vrHHrpVY
All photos courtesy of Alison Teal
