Our oceans do so much for us and we affect them every day. The 8th of June is World Oceans day. Here’s what you can do to help the sea.
1. You’ve heard this before, but ditch the plastic
The media won’t shut up about plastic and it’s finally becoming trendy to be low waste. You might be getting sick of this message but it can’t be pushed enough.
Plastic is bad (here’s why). It doesn’t decompose and it breaks into small pieces called microplastics that could be wreaking havoc on sea life.
Think of the video of the turtle having a straw removed from its nose. Think of the countless pictures of sea bird carcasses filled with plastic bits.
Plastic is so ubiquitous it’s almost impossible to be rid of, but every piece counts. So do your best.
2. Lower your carbon footprint
This is another biggie, so here are some websites to help you get going.
The ocean absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. In fact, the surface of the sea contains 50 times more CO2 than the atmosphere! Now that’s great for us because it means less greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, but it’s bad for the ocean because it’s turning it acidic.
The CO2 dissolves in the water and becomes carbonic acid. This changes the pH of the water and has huge knock-on effects throughout the marine ecosystem.
The best thing we can do is cut our emissions as much as we can.
3. Stop eating sea food (or at least reduce???)
I’m not telling you how to live your life but if you really care enough for the ocean this won’t be a problem for you.
Fishing companies are Big Evil Corporations that are over-fishing despite regulations and there is basically no way to be sure that what you’re eating was sustainably caught.
No fish = no whales, no dolphins, no seals, no sea birds, nothing.
There are not plenty of fish in the sea, not with the fishing industry as it is now. The same goes for shellfish.
If you must eat fish, use the SASSI app to be as green as possible.
4. Support corporations trying to help our oceans!
You know that kid who did a ted talk about making a device to clean the ocean of plastics? Well he’s ACTUALLY DOING IT! His project is called the Ocean Clean Up and you can support it with funds or even just publicity. If you can’t cut plastic from your life, at least try and undo a bit of the harm its causing.
The Ocean Clean Up CEO, Boyan Slat. By DWDD - DWDD, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66001495
Another company you can support is Sea Legacy. It’s run by photographers and marine biologists Christina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen and they do so much for everything from coral reefs to salmon farming off the coasts of Canada – check them out!
The ocean does so much for us and it deserves to be treated better. Make it a goal to work to help it this World Oceans day, and every day.
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