Meet our members: Ken Caplan

Emma Chaplin
, 01 June 2025
Meet our members: Ken Caplan
Ken Caplan © Emma Chaplin

How long have you been a member of Sussex Wildlife Trust?

Six years. My wife and I wanted to connect more with the area where we live and to find out more about the local environment. My main areas of interest are the harms that pollution causes to the environment and how to better manage waste.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your work

I grew up in Florida and then joined the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Thailand. I continued working in Thailand for USAID (US Agency for International Development) on city planning issues and then worked in Vietnam for various charities, including ActionAid. I moved to the UK in 1998 and settled in Lewes with my wife Gill, who I met in Vietnam. We have two adult children.

I fell into the world of water and sanitation many years ago. Most of my work has been focused on how best to get water and sanitation services to poorer households in lower and middle income countries. I'm not an engineer - my focus is on governance aspects and the politics of water. This means bringing together different people and organisations to see what can be done - it is often a matter of forging relationships among groups that have never worked together. The biggest challenge is often the slow pace of change. I've met amazing people from all walks of life, who are passionate, compassionate, innovative, tech savvy and politically savvy and you need all of these qualities and skillsets to align - along with different ways of raising finance, of course - to make change happen.

Has this work impacted your view on water and how we use it?

Everything we consume uses water. I'm currently involved as an advisor to the Fair Water Footprints initiative, which is about being more aware of what we buy and the water embedded in those products. For example, oranges, olives, avocados, clothing, phones, all may be grown or made in increasingly water scarce environments. Several years ago, a professor at King’s College London came up with the phrase 'virtual water’, which reflects this idea of more clearly understanding how our consumption impacts on water in producer countries.

So I try to be aware of how much water we use, not just when there's a hosepipe ban but also in what we buy. In trying to ensure that people have basic access to clean water, you also can't help but be aware of how much water we waste. Although it rains a lot in the UK, there is nevertheless an ever growing demand for water, particularly in the South East. I'd love to find easier ways to recycle water from the shower, the washing machine, the sinks to use in the garden.

Cuckmere © Chris Mole

Where is your favourite body of water in Sussex?

I'm not a big swimmer, but love to be near water. Walking with the dog from Alfriston to the sea along The Cuckmere is definitely one of my favourites.

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