By Eldrid Yarte
Travelling to the beach is one of life’s great pleasures. Where else can you spend a day doing pretty much exactly what you want when it comes to swimming, chilling out, and just generally having a great time? However, if we want to be able to do this in the future, we need to take care of our beaches. And so many people don’t. Is there anything more off-putting than a rubbish-strewn beach?!
In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the things you do to be a more responsible beach-goer. Hopefully, you’ll already be doing most of them – but if not, it’ll make your beach trip not only more enjoyable for you but also the next person too. Let’s check them out.
Don’t use single-use plastics
You shouldn’t just be trying to avoid using single-use plastics at the beach. Make it a habit in your everyday life! Disposable plastics never completely biodegrade, instead they split up into tiny bits called microplastics that often find their way into the oceans. It’s definitely worth switching to more environmentally friendly products instead.
According to National Geographic, 73% of beach litter is plastic. When plastics are left behind at the beach, they look unpleasant and untidy. However, that’s the least of your worries. Plastics are extremely harmful to animals and ecosystems – sea creatures often mistake things like straws and PET bottles for food and turtles, fish, and even animals as big as dolphins and sharks can choke on single-use plastic. Sadly, close to 700 species of marine life face extinction due to plastic pollution, and around 90% of all seabirds and fish are thought to have plastic particles in their stomachs. This kills hundreds of thousands of animals each year.
Try and make your beach-trip plastic free – marine life will thank you for it.
Take a reusable water bottle
One option that you can use instead of a plastic water bottle is a reusable one. Not only are you less likely to leave it behind at the beach, but it’s also much better for the environment before it even gets to you. That’s right, reusable waters use fewer resources and emit less harmful gases in their production.
Also – lots of reusable water bottles can keep your drink hot or cold. Just a small personal win, but it’s hard to see why anyone would choose plastic over this really!
Enjoy water sports responsibly
Enjoy water sports responsibly? What does that even mean! Well, there are a few ways you can do it. First of all, the type of water sport you’re doing is important. If you’re close to the beach and you’re attached to a jet ski or a speedboat, that’s going to pollute the waters around you with its exhaust gases and it’s likely to scare marine life. So, the first step is picking something where no engine is involved!
Stand up paddleboarding is a low impact sport on your body, but it also has a low impact on the environment. The calm action of paddling across flat water (or perhaps even some waves) leaves little evidence you’ve been there in the first place. Add in the fact that there are huge physical and mental health benefits, and you’ll be getting a lot from it too. Remember, if you’re bringing your dog on your SUP, make sure to invest in a good dog life jacket!
Another board sport that is good for the environment is surfing – just be sure to do it safely and to follow the other rules on this list to do it responsibly.
Use reef-safe sunscreen
You may have heard the news that one of the world’s most incredible natural wonders, the Great Barrier Reef is dying. This is happening to many others around the world, and while it is a product of climate change there are some small steps you can take to slow this. One of which is using reef-safe sunscreen. Regular sunscreens contain oxybenzone and octinoxate and these can cause coral reef bleaching. A reef-safe one won’t do this.
Be sure not to go too far and just decide not to use sunscreen at all. That could be very dangerous!
Take your rubbish with you
We’ve already touched on this a little bit. But there is absolutely no reason to leave your rubbish on the beach. It shows a lack of respect for other beachgoers, local people, and any wildlife living in the area. Even if there are no accessible bins or recycling stations, be sure to take a rubbish bag with you or put small bits of rubbish in your pocket until you find somewhere responsible to get rid of it. Littering is never okay, especially not on a beach.
Leave only footprints
While it’s important to take your rubbish with you, make sure that’s all you take. Imagine if everyone took a shell or a rock with them when they left the beach as a memento. There’d soon be nothing left! Shells and stones make the beach healthy and they’re part of the marine ecosystem. And if you’re really honest with yourself, you’re probably not going to do much with that shell or stone once you get home anyway!
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media