Protect our Oceans: 6 Individual Actions You Can Take Today
/How to Protect our Oceans: 6 Steps
How can we help protect our oceans? It’s a question I ask myself every time I take a plunge into the deep blue. The answer isn’t easy nor is it straightforward, but it’s urgent that we act, no matter how imperfectly. In the following article, I’ve compiled a list of ways we can all help conserve our bountiful yet depleted oceans. Many of you will know some of these already, but hopefully, I can also teach you something new. Reminders never hurt, especially when it comes to caring for our mother earth.
6 Individual Actions You Can Take Today for the Oceans
Protect our Oceans // 1. Avoid Fast Fashion at All Costs
Everyday we try and be conscious of our water consumption and protect our oceans: we take short showers, close the tap when we brush our teeth and avoid over-washing. Yet, in our houses, most of us have something that uses up more than 900 days of drinking water: our favorite cotton t-shirt. That’s a huge amount of water and the fashion industry is not only a huge consumer of water, but it’s also an enormous waterways polluter. An estimated 20% of global wastewater is caused by dyeing and processing products for the fashion industry, according to Rita Kant’s 2012 paper: Textile Dyeing Industry: an Environmental Hazard.
Protect our Oceans // 2. Make the Right Seafood Choices
Make safe and sustainable choices if you are going to consume seafood. Global fish populations are rapidly being depleted due to demand, loss of habitat, and unsustainable fishing practices. Make a conscious choice to protect our oceans and limit your seafood consumption. If buying seafood, check the labels and look for the appropriate seals and certifications. The Marine Stewardship Council is one of the best to look out for.
Protect our Oceans // 3. Be a Conscious Pet Owner
Be an ocean-friendly pet owner. Sounds kind of crazy? It’s a real thing. Read the labels and check that the food you are feeding your animal is sustainably harvested. void stocking your aquarium with wild-caught saltwater fish, and never release any aquarium fish into the ocean.
Protect our Oceans // 4. Clean Up the Beaches
Help take care of the beach. If you happen to live by the ocean or get to visit it every once in a while, why not make a family activity out of cleaning the beach? It can be fun and also very informative on the type of waste that washes up in the sea. Grad yourself a bag and get cleaning! You’ll be surprised at how much you can pick up in under 30 minutes.
Protect our Oceans // 5. Say No to Single Use
Use fewer plastic products. Plastic washing up into the ocean overwhelmingly contributes to habitat destruction and ends up killing tens of thousands of marine animals each year. Limit your impact by buying reusable containers and avoiding the integration of plastic into your lifestyle.
Protect our Oceans // 6. Get Politically Active
Last but certainly not least, research the ocean policy in your area and sign petitions to protect the marine environment. We all have a role to play in our democracies and voting can have a tremendous influence on our environmental policies and laws. If you are looking for more information on the topic, check out this National Geographic’s article & this National Ocean Service’s infographics.
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PIN THIS INFOGRAPHICS AS AN EASY REMINDER
If you’re anything like me, the plastic crisis looms heavy over your head. Thoughts of single-use plastics accumulated in landfills, micro-plastics degrading in our oceans and waterways, and the knowledge that recycling is not a viable solution, are all part of my daily ruminations. Yet, all the great change in history has been led by people, not corporations, and we need to be reminded that our actions and choices do matter, as they continuously weigh into the collective balance. So here are some ideas on how to live a more sustainable lifestyle when it comes to plastics!