It all seems so daunting: plastics in the ocean, dying coral reefs, entire species being wiped out \u2013 but don\u2019t click away in despair! <\/p>\n
There really are things everyone can do to help make the ocean cleaner and keep our environment healthier. <\/p>\n
Here are some easy (or mostly easy) life changes that have a big impact on our environment. <\/p>\n
Whenever you eat fish, make sure you choose a sustainable variety that isn\u2019t endangered. <\/p>\n
The Monterey Bay Aquarium\u2019s \u201cSeafood Watch\u201d program has online guides detailing which fish are your best bets. All of these directories, broken up by region, can be downloaded into a printable pocket guide \u2013 so if you\u2019re a seafood lover, it\u2019s a handy resource to keep nearby. <\/p>\n
The most consumed seafoods in the US are shrimp, salmon and tuna. If those are among your go-to choices, some more environmentally responsible options to look for include shrimp from the US or Canada; salmon caught in the US Pacific or Canada; and canned tuna labeled \u201cpole-caught,\u201d \u201cpole-and-line-caught,\u201d or \u201ctroll-caught.\u201d <\/p>\n
How your fish is caught is important. You want to make sure you\u2019re not consuming fish caught in nets that are notorious for trapping \u201cbycatch\u201d \u2013 turtles, seabirds and whales often get caught in those lines and die. <\/p>\n
And since whales do an excellent job trapping planet-warming carbon emissions \u2013 even better than trees \u2013 keeping them in the ocean helps us all. <\/p>\n
This is a big one\u2026and one of the worst problems facing the ocean, landfills and even our bodies! <\/p>\n
Jennifer Savage of Surfrider Foundation suggests supporting businesses that avoid single-use plastics. <\/p>\n
If your favorite restaurant still uses plastics, she tells diners to refuse the plastic forks and gently suggest the management move to a more sustainable takeaway option (like bamboo utensils and paper containers and straws) or \u2013 even better \u2013 go with washable plates and cutlery. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt saves money, too. If they\u2019re spending all this money buying single-use plastic, a small investment in a dishwasher and reusable cutlery will save money in the long run.\u201d <\/p>\n
Also, she says, consumers are realizing they prefer the less-disposable options. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople love it, people are so much happier. Think about how much better it feels to have a meal with metal utensils and a real plate.\u201d <\/p>\n
As consumers begin to worry about things like microplastics making their way into their bodies, this is a \u201cno-brainer\u201d for restaurants, she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey found plastic in our bodies\u2026people don\u2019t want to eat off plastic plates with plastic utensils.\u201d <\/p>\n
Surfrider Foundation even has a helpful online guide, highlighting ocean-friendly restaurants. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to realize that most plastic doesn\u2019t get recycled, according to Savage. She says the US rate of plastic recycling is only about 5% to 6%. <\/p>\n
\u201cThings that have a number on them \u2026 that\u2019s just a fallacy. That stuff just gets sorted out and put into the landfill,\u201d Savage says. Ditto for that \u201cchasing arrow\u201d symbol you see on the bottom of many plastic containers, she says. Most of it still isn\u2019t recyclable. <\/p>\n
Some states, including California, are starting to crack down on that misleading labeling and aren\u2019t allowing the symbol to appear on plastic that isn\u2019t recyclable. <\/p>\n
So whenever you can: skip single-use plastic and Styrofoam. Support businesses that are part of the solution. And talk to your representatives about phasing it out. <\/p>\n
Picking up trash on the beach won\u2019t solve the problem on its own, but it is really important, says Savage. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt that moment in time, you\u2019re going to have a cleaner beach. You will have less plastic in your environment. Cleaning it up and leaving it better than you found it makes you feel good.\u201d <\/p>\n
And that \u201cfeeling good\u201d often leads to activism. \u201cNext thing you know, they\u2019re going to city council meetings, contacting their representatives.\u201d <\/p>\n
Another bonus of participating in a beach clean-up? It allows organizations to gather data about the most common items that end up as beach litter. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn California, you don\u2019t see as many single-use plastic bags, so you don\u2019t see them [on the beach as often] anymore. It helps people to see what the biggest problems are. Whether it\u2019s plastic chip bags, or cigarette butts, or whatever.\u201d <\/p>\n
Autumn Blum is a cosmetic chemist by day, and a shark-obsessed scuba diver on the weekends. <\/p>\n
\n<\/p>
AvobenzoneBenzophenones\/oxybenzoneButyloctyl salicylateClear or nano zinc\/nano particlesCylcopentasiloxane\/cyclomethiconeEcamsuleFormaldehyde, diazolidinyl urea, quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin and hydroxymethylglycinateMethylisothiazolinoneMicroplasticOctinoxate\/octyl methozycinnamatePadimate OParabensSodium lauryl and laureth sulfate (SLS\/SLES)<\/p>\n
Source: Autumn Blum\/Stream2Sea <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
She spent years formulating skin products for other companies before striking out on her own to create a mineral sunscreen business. Her inspiration? Seeing a group of snorkelers surrounded by a circle of oily film on the water, formed by the chemical sunscreens they had slathered on. She was horrified, knowing the chemicals were deadly for coral and many fish. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many things that impact our waters. Something that we use on our bodies should not be one of them. Period,\u201d says Blum. \u201cThat\u2019s an easy piece that we can change to make a positive impact.\u201d <\/p>\n
Blum says recent chemical sunscreen bans are already making a difference in places like Hawaii, with reefs coming back to life. She\u2019s also encouraged by efforts to renew coral reefs via coral planting. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s still no mutually agreed-upon term to describe what\u2019s \u201creef-safe,\u201d so what you really need to do is avoid certain ingredients that are known to be harmful, Blum says. <\/p>\n
Avoid microbeads<\/strong> <\/p>\n Blum also encourages consumers to make sure they don\u2019t buy products that contain microbeads. <\/p>\n After you wash them off your face or body, those microbeads go down the drain, pass right through your local wastewater plant, and dump into the ocean. From there, they can be eaten by fish. <\/p>\n Humans then eat the fish that have eaten the microbeads\u2026and that\u2019s another way we end up with microplastics in our bodies. <\/p>\n Shark-friendly moisturizer<\/strong> <\/p>\n Many new moisturizers are touting \u201csqualane\u201d as their new miracle ingredient. <\/p>\n It is a common ingredient in sunscreens, cosmetics, and high-end skin products. \u201cThe unfortunate thing about squalane is that it\u2019s frequently obtained from shark livers,\u201d says Blum. <\/p>\n Many species of sharks are facing extinction, and several of those species are considered \u201ccritically endangered.\u201d <\/p>\n Plant-based squalanes work just as well as shark-based ones, Blum says. So when reading your ingredient label, make sure it says \u201cvegan squalane\u201d or \u201cplant-based squalane.\u201d Otherwise, advises Blum, assume it comes from sharks. <\/p>\n Now for the good news: Materials are being developed that could revolutionize all our packaging, Blum says. <\/p>\n Mycelium, made from mushrooms, performs a lot like current plastics. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, researchers at Yale have discovered a separate fungus with tantalizing abilities to break down polyurethane. It will be awhile, Blum says, but \u201creally cool\u201d technology based on plastic-eating mushrooms could be in our future. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not commercial-ready, but it\u2019s on the horizon,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n So forget \u201cThe Last of Us.\u201d The mushrooms may save us all. <\/p>\n\n It all seems so daunting: plastics in the ocean, dying coral reefs, entire species being wiped out \u2013 but don\u2019t click away in despair! There really are things everyone can do to help make the ocean cleaner and keep our environment healthier. Here are some easy (or mostly easy) life changes that have a big <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":8656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} The future is fungus<\/h2>\n