directair
01.05.2021 12:22:22
Keep the beaches clean and our oceans safe with these 11 small gestures that make a big impact.
See full version: 11 Ways You Can Save the Ocean From Plastic Pollution
Keep the beaches clean and our oceans safe with these 11 small gestures that make a big impact.
When the organization Parley For The Oceans released a video of a giant wave of plastic pollution, people were shocked. After a storm, massive amounts of plastic and garbage washed up on the shores of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Sadly, this is an occurrence that happens after every storm. In just nine days, volunteers collected more than 520 tons of trash from the beach.
What you wear on your body in the ocean ends up in the ocean permanently. Choose only ocean-safe, biodegradable products like Stream2Sea. They have sunscreen and shower products that are affordable and totally ocean safe! Additionally, many products contribute to harmful marine life practices. Avoid purchasing coral jewelry, tortoiseshell accessories (many of which are made from hawksbill turtle shells), and shark products. more
Oceans are a fundamental entity for life on Earth. They cover about 71% of the planet’s surface and contain 97% of the Earth’s water. They are home to countless species and ecosystems that we rely on for climate regulation, livelihoods, and most importantly, food. more
Try to buy clothing made of natural fibers as they do not contain any synthetic fiber in their composition.
Check out your local waste transfer stations to guarantee that the plastic waste is recycled adequately.
Wherever you live, the easiest and most direct way that you can get started is by reducing your own use of single-use plastics. Single-use plastics include plastic bags, water bottles, straws, cups, utensils, dry cleaning bags, take-out containers, and any other plastic items that are used once and then discarded. more
In the ocean, plastic pollution impacts sea turtles, whales, seabirds, fish, coral reefs, and countless other marine species and habitats. In fact, scientists estimate that more than half of the world’s sea turtles and nearly every seabird on Earth have eaten plastic in their lifetimes. Plastic pollution also mars otherwise beautiful beaches, coastlines, and snorkel and dive sites worldwide, even in remote areas such as Midway Atoll.
With skyrocketing plastic production, low levels of recycling, and poor waste management, between 4 and 12 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean each year—enough to cover every foot of coastline on the planet! And that amount is projected to triple in the next 20 years. Let that sink in for a moment.
Join our growing community of people dedicated to reducing plastic pollution and other threats to ocean wildlife. You’ll receive free tips, information, and resources to help live a more ocean-friendly lifestyle.
The Fishing for Energy partnership helps fishermen properly dispose of old and abandoned fishing nets and other gear—much of it plastic—at no cost to the fishermen. In addition to donating their own worn-out nets, some fishermen also directly retrieve lost fishing gear out of the ocean. After being collected and sorted, any metal parts are recycled, and everything else is converted into electricity, with roughly one ton of old nets producing enough electricity to power a house for 25 days. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation works with the NOAA Marine Debris Program, Covanta, and Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. to carry out this partnership, which has expanded to include funding other projects that seek to prevent or remove lost fishing gear in U.S. coastal waters. Since it started in 2008, the Fishing for Energy partnership has removed and kept 3 million pounds of fishing gear out of the ocean. [links]
Plastic straws, cups, plates, bags, forks, and spoons turn up among the most frequently found items at beach cleanups year after year. Eating with these so-called "disposable" plastics creates huge amounts of waste, and the Clean Water Fund, with the support of the NOAA Marine Debris Program, is working to stem this flow of food-related plastics coming from restaurants in California’s San Francisco Bay region. Through their ReThink Disposable campaign, Clean Water Fund is collaborating with local food businesses and institutional food services by auditing their waste and helping to find more sustainable alternatives to disposable plastic food and beverage packaging. They're also working with the businesses to communicate to the public the benefits of cutting down on this type of waste and how it impacts the environment. One of them, El Metate Restaurant, a fast-casual Mexican restaurant, swapped plastic cutlery and salsa cups, previously provided to both dine-in and take-out customers, for reusable metal cutlery and ceramic salsa bowls. After implementing these changes, not only did El Metate manage to keep 493,711 disposable food ware items out of the landfill (and coastal waters) each year, but the changes improved the dining experience, increased dine-in customers, and is saving nearly $9,000 a year.
JUNE 28, 2016 -- This week, we’re exploring the problem of plastics in our ocean and the solutions that are making a difference. To learn more about #OceanPlastics this week, keep your eye on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, NOAA's Marine Debris Blog, and, of course, here. You don't have to get too fancy in order to help keep plastic and other marine debris out of the ocean. Solutions can be pretty simple: Reducing your use of single-use, "disposable" plastic items; picking up a plastic wrapper littered on the sidewalk; participating in a beach cleanup. (Stay tuned: we'll get deeper into ways you can help later this week.) Sometimes, however, the particulars of this problem can be more complex. Sometimes just getting people's attention and encouraging them to take those simple actions require more creative approaches. We've rounded up a few projects that have our attention, projects which are aimed at making a dent in the many problems associated with ocean plastics. Know of another notable ocean plastics project? Let us know on social media using #OceanPlastics.
Walking southern Oregon's otherwise beautiful beaches, artist Angela Haseltine Pozzi began despairing how much plastic pollution seemed to appear on its shores. Inspired to turn that pollution into something more positive, she rallied volunteers to clean the beaches and turn the trash into sculptures of the marine life affected by plastic pollution. That's how Washed Ashore was born. In addition to creating these larger-than-life recycled sculptures, Washed Ashore's latest project, funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program, incorporates theater, movement, and creative writing into a curriculum for teaching students about marine debris. From a sleek marlin to an inquisitive puffin, Washed Ashore's mostly plastic, often massive sculptures serve as dramatic backdrops—and powerful ocean ambassadors—for these educational programs in zoos, aquariums, and museums around the country. According to Washed Ashore, since its inception in 2010, the program has processed 38,000 pounds of marine debris, turning it into more than 60 sculptures. more
Few things can communicate the scale of plastic's impacts on wildlife like walking inside a life-sized inflatable whale and "dissecting" its organs to uncover the marine debris it's swallowed. That's exactly what middle and elementary school kids in rural North and South Carolina have the opportunity to do through the University of North Carolina Wilmington MarineQuest's Traveling Through Trash program, which received funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program. People have found plastic bags, rope, juice packs, broken CD cases, and much more inside dead whales. Watson, the 58-foot-long inflatable right whale, offers students the chance to experience this reality close up and learn how they can take responsibility for keeping trash, no matter where it comes from, far away from the ocean and marine life. During the 2015-2016 school year, Watson the Whale traveled more than 8,000 miles and taught more than 9,500 students about how trash affects migrating marine species. [links]