oceans aware: inform, inspire, involve
the more you know about the ocean the more you can do to protect and restore it
Everyone can make a difference
There is so much we can do to help the ocean. Instead of waiting for governments to impose bans or for companies to redesign or improve their products or their packaging, we can already take things into our own hands and make some important changes.
Here is ocean aware’s top 5 things to do:
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Avoid plastic
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Take a bottle
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Join a cleanup
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Support local fisheries
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Spread the word
Can I do anything to reduce ocean pollution?
As the ocean pollution pages show, the ocean is being polluted in many different ways. Individuals can have little direct impact on agricultural runoff (unless you are a farmer), ghost gear (unless you are a fisher), invasive species or oil spills, but there are still steps we can take:
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Avoid plastic
Perhaps the most important ocean action of all starts with the simple decision to refuse single-use plastic where possible.
Take a survey to see just how much single-use plastic is in your life and get tips on how to avoid plastic at home in the kitchen and bathroom, when travelling or in your free time from My Little Plastic Footprint and Friends of the Earth.
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Be prepared to refill
It’s often hard to avoid plastic but a little preparation can go a long way. Carry a bottle, shopping bag, cutlery and containers rather than accept plastic alternatives. Shops and restaurants are often pleased to fill up your boxes rather than use their own plastic containers.
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Reuse and recycle
Earth’s resources are not infinite and so we need to look after them. Establishing a circular economy with zero waste is key to restoring the ocean. A mobile phone is a good example, 80% of which is recyclable. Don’t just put your old one in a drawer, recycle it!
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Join a cleanup
Join a local cleanup (it doesn’t need to be on a beach!) or start your own. Cleanup apps like Litterati can help you track what you collect.
If you are a diver, make every dive count with the Padi Dive Against Debris movement.
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Reduce microfibres
Between 700,000 and 12 million microfibres can be shed during one single load of laundry. Washing clothes less and at lower temperatures, and using a filter, bag or ball will catch microplastics before they enter the wastewater.
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Avoid microbeads
Minute plastic beads in shower gels or facial washes are impossible to filter out before they enter the ocean. Find out whether your bathroom products contain unnecessary microbeads with the Beat the microbead app.
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Avoid toxic sunscreen
Follow Hawai’i’s example and use reef safe sunscreen, find an SPF that uses physical UVA and UVB filters as opposed to the chemical ones that have been connected to coral reef deterioration.
Can I do anything to help stop ocean warming?
The ocean-climate nexus pages show just how devastating the effect of greenhouse gas emissions has been on the ocean. Each time you travel by car or by plane or use single-use plastics your carbon footprint goes up - so every single individual action to find an alternative counts.
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Change the way you heat
Burning fossil fuels to generate electricity is the single largest source of global emissions. Avoid contributing to climate change by switching your electricity source to renewable energy. Work on your carbon footprint and combat climate change from home with 12 things you can do to fight climate change.
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Change the way you eat
Livestock farming contributes 18% of human produced greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Consider a vegan or vegetarian diet: reducing the amount of meat or dairy products in your diet is both good for you and good for the planet.
If you do eat fish, make sure it comes from a sustainable source. Avoid supporting destructive large-scale fisheries and help local fishers instead.
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Change the way you travel
A typical car emits about 4.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Take the train or the bike instead.
Approximately 8% of the world’s carbon emissions are caused by travel and tourism. Travel sustainably, using these 10 tips for ways to do so.
How can I make my voice heard?
There are plenty of ways to make your voice heard, whether at a demonstration, using your purchasing power, writing an email, signing a petition or voting in an election. Stand up for what you believe in and make your voice heard! Look at the ocean advocacy page for campaigns you can support.
Brian Yurasits/Unsplash
Whenever you see a piece of plastic where it doesn’t belong, pick it up, take a photo, and share it on social media using #IsThisYours and the brand name, tagging the company in question.
Conduct a brand audit with Break free from plastic’s toolkit to identify the corporations responsible for the unmanageable plastic waste in your community, school, or office. Then, hold them accountable by sending their plastic waste to their corporate offices or writing to them that while you want the product, you don’t want the plastic packaging that goes with it;
Kenny Eliason/Unsplash
Call on your government to take a responsible stand on waste disposal, to stop waste exports, to establish policy on single-use packaging and washing machine filters, to provide better recycling facilities and to commit to the zero-waste movement.
Write to companies asking them to use social plastic and embrace an EPR programme.
Ask your local supermarket to offer plastic-free or unpackaged goods.
alvito danendra/Unsplash
Avoid tourist attractions like marine parks or aquariums with dolphins or whales, these animals should not be kept captive in tanks for entertainment.
How else can I get involved?
Glenn Carstens-Peters/Unsplash
Join a citizen science initiative: involving the public in scientific research is a growing trend - data collection by the general public can greatly support the work of researchers.
Check out this citizen science portal for marine research for ideas or join NASA’s Citizen Science Projects, for example to assess the health of coral reefs around the world or look for giant kelp forests from space. Or help protect the Great Barrier Reef - the Great Reef Census collects tens of thousands of images from hundreds of reefs across the Great Barrier Reef each year and help is needed to identify what type of coral, and how much of it, can be seen on these images.
Colton Jones/Unsplash
Listen to reefs and help marine biologists identify fish in an attempt to bring life back into coral reefs in the Philippines on the Calling in our Corals tracker.
With Penguin Watch you can count penguins, chicks and eggs to help scientists understand their lives and environment.
The Great Eggcase Hunt calls on everyone to count shark eggcases to help The Shark Trust discover more about egg-laying species in UK waters.
WWF and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are looking for help to search for and count walrus in thousands of satellite images taken from space, with the aim to learn more about how walrus populations are impacted by the climate crisis.
Soeren Funk/Ocean Image Bank
Conduct your own ocean and river plastic surveys for The Ocean Cleanup apps which allow you to add to a global database of plastic debris observations in rivers and oceans.
Count nurdles at the beach for The Great Nurdle Hunt.
Report plastic pollution, waste or oil spills with the Save the Waves app.
Register waste dumps using BAN's Atlas of Plastic Waste.
How can I support ocean restoration projects?
Rethink the way you give a gift: plant a mangrove seedling or a coral, they last much longer than a bunch of flowers!
The Ocean Agency / Ocean Image Bank
Plant a mangrove or restore a kelp forest with SeaTrees by Sustainable Surf in Cambodia, Indonesia, Kenya and the USA. By subscribing to their newsletter you can plant your first Sea Tree for free!
Ben Ruys/Unsplash
Coral Gardeners grows and plants resilient corals to restore dying reefs and bring life back to the ocean. You can adopt a coral here.
Jeremy Bishop/Unsplash
Join The Tide from Only One, which supports vital ocean projects, innovators, and impact organizations that put equity and the environment first.
And if you are still looking for inspiration: take your ocean training path further
Agence Olloweb/Unsplash
Get your school involved by asking for ocean issues to be included in your curriculum.
You can get support from ocean literacy networks around the world and from the Network of European Blue Schools and the All-Atlantic Blue Schools Network.
Susan Q Yin/Unsplash
Consider doing an online course, finding an internship, volunteering for a marine conservation project or choosing an ocean-related degree:
for online training ideas take a look at the training page
for internships and volunteer opportunities in marine conservation see: https://www.wiseoceans.com/jobs/ and https://www.theconservationnetwork.org/ or check the websites of the organizations like the United Nations or the IUCN included in the links page
for degrees see:
https://www.topuniversities.com/courses/earth-marine-sciences/guide
https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/subjects/marine-and-ocean-sciences and the De Maribus blog for a list of institutes offering law of the sea and maritime law courses
Nick Fewings/Unsplash
Consider an ocean-related career. Get an idea of what kind of ocean-related jobs there are on these sites:
Marine Insight has a list of ocean-related jobs
See what kind of jobs are available at the moment on the Marine Community website
The Marine diaries explores ocean careers in their Into the Industry series
See what being a marine biologist really means at Marine Bio life
Find a list of education and job possibilities at the Marine Conservation Institute
Watch this Ocean Careers Workshop organized by The Marine diaries