Ocean pollution can seem like someone else’s problem. While many of us – very likely most of the human race – can sympathize with the needs of Mother Earth and of marine life, we simply don’t always know what to do to help (or can’t be bothered). Pollution and its innumerable harmful effects are a global problem; it’s not exactly as simple as, say, heading to city hall to ask where to complain about a pothole in your town.
There are ways to take a very active role in cleaning up our oceans, preserving marine life, and setting better precedents for the future. If you’re leading a busy life though, or you’re unsure of how to get started and you just want to know what little you can do to support the efforts in general, you might consider some of the following.
1. Support Cleanup-Related Products
There are a lot of companies working on cleaning up the ocean, and several of them make a point of making it easy for customers to contribute. Take, for example, 4Ocean, a company that has pulled one million pounds of garbage out of the ocean and sells bracelets and apparel to make it happen. It doesn’t have to be this specific company, but they’re one of the clearer examples of how your own purchasing power as a consumer can directly contribute to cleanup efforts, even if you’re not out there yanking plastic out of the water yourself. If you haven’t done something like this before, you may be surprised at the legitimate rush of positivity and excitement you feel when you unpack this kind of product and know that you’ve done a little bit to help.
2. Mind Your Seafood Consumption
Even for those who are environmentally conscious, it’s incredibly easy to walk into a supermarket and simply order food that looks or sounds good. It’s even easier to order the first thing you want off a menu at a restaurant without thinking twice. But in these circumstances, you should always make the effort to find out if your food – seafood or otherwise, really – was sustainably and healthily sourced. It’s up to each and every one of us as consumers to support the markets of sustainable and responsible fishing, and this is how it’s done.
3. Monitor Elections
We won’t take a particular political stance here, so much as just recommend anyone concerned with the state of the oceans would do well to monitor major elections. This can best be done, often, through the betting markets, which does not mean you have to pay to see them. There are options to play for free at online betting sites, and beyond that you can easily see odds listings whether or not you’re making a bet. This can inform you which politicians are being taken most seriously and then – if your personal politics allow you to – you can make an effort to boost those who have made specific commitments to focus on environmental change. Like it or not, these figures exert enormous influence over our environment and our oceans.
4. Demand Help From Those You Admire
A very cool thing happened on Twitter recently, concerning, of all people, the lead singer of the band Third Eye Blind, once extremely popular thanks to hits like “Semi-Charmed Life.” Said singer, Stephan Jenkins, has a bit of a reputation as a surfer and a sort of spiritual type, and thus, as you might imagine, has made his passion for the environment known publicly. In this vein, Jenkins was recently challenged, good-naturedly, by a fan on Twitter who wanted to know if the band itself was making efforts to be sustainable or carbon-neutral. Rather than ignoring the question or evading it, Jenkins responded positively and soon thereafter announced that his band would be going single-use plastic-free, both making a good change itself and setting an example for millions of fans. This just goes to show that the way social media allows us to interact with influential and popular figures these days, it can pay off to demand a high standard of them!
5. Share Facts
Lastly, you can also do your own part simply by speaking up. One of the best ways that we as individuals can combat issues like pollution and even climate change is to speak up about them without being shy or afraid. What if, for example, you made it your business to share related fact (along with a source) once or twice a week on your social media. Sure, there will likely be some who roll their eyes at the initiative, or even mock it, but you’ll ultimately be keeping the issues in front of people, which can go a longer way than you may ever know.