10 Things You Can Do To Help Protect The Ocean

World Environment Day and World Oceans Day this year have really highlighted for me the importance of importance of preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for a healthy ocean.

Our lifestyle choices can help preserve the oceans for future generations. Here are my top 10 Things You Can Do To Help Protect The Ocean:

1. Refuse – Say no to single use plastic, such as plastic drink bottles, cutlery and straws. Marine animals often mistake plastic for food and can end up choking or starving to death. 
2. Take Care Of The Beach – Always clean up after yourself. You can also participate in local beach clean-ups, or organise one yourself. 
3. Be Considerate – Don’t bother sea birds, mammals, and turtles or their nesting grounds. Support marine protected areas. Don’t buy products that are exploiting marine life such as corals, seashells or exotic fish. 
4. Reduce Energy Use – The ocean absorbs over 25% of human carbon dioxide emissions. That results in ‘ocean acidification’ which harms a wide array of marine species. There are many simple ways you can reduce your energy use such as riding your bike or taking public transport, unplugging your electronics and switching off the lights. 
5. Reduce Your Use Of Chemicals – Chemicals such as pesticides, household cleaners and cosmetics can find their way into water sources and eventually into the sea, moving through the food chain and causing animals to get sick. Purchase organic when possible and limit chemicals in personal use. 
6. Ditch The Seafood Diet – Global fish populations are rapidly being depleted due to demand, loss of habitat, and unsustainable fishing practices. 
7. Switch To A Natural Sunscreen – Chemicals in sunscreens can damage coral reefs. Keep your skin safe from harm, while also decreasing potential threat to the ocean. 
8. Be An Ocean-Friendly Pet Owner – Read pet food labels and consider seafood sustainability when choosing a diet for your pet. 
9. Stop Smoking – When cigarette butts get wet, chemicals poisonous to sea life, like arsenic, acetone, ammonia, benzene, cadmium, formaldehyde, lead and toluene leach out into the surrounding water. Birds and fish eat them, and you can guess where all of those waste chemicals end up. Plus, the filters contain plastic. 
10. Share – Use social media to raise awareness about ocean conservation. You can reach hundreds, if not thousands of friends to raise awareness. Let’s create a greener future for our planet!

Everyone of us at Green Giving Co is working hard to do what we can to improve the health of our oceans. We hope you will join us.

Bianca xx

Image: Unsplash | Christopher Campbell

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