Being Ocean-Friendly

Rules-of-thumb we can follow

How ocean-friendly are you? Take the quiz

1. Drive and fly less.

Obviously, right? Cars not only use a lot of gas and emit CO2, they also pollute the roadways with oil and other nasty stuff. (Then it all runs into the ocean when it rains.) Aircraft use a lot of fuel, and jet engine emissions are, of course, toxic.

2. Use less disposable plastic.

It's difficult to avoid single-use plastic such as wrappers and lids, but we can try to avoid plastic-wrapped products, bags and bottled water when possible. Make a point of preferring nonplastic-wrapped products and avoiding disposable and "recyclable" plastic containers for beverages, condiments and other food products when glass or canned products are available.

3. Avoid using toxic farm, yard and garden products.

All the stuff we spray outside soon washes into the ocean. Avoiding commercial pesticides like weedkiller containing cancer-causing glyphosate helps make the environment safer for humans and sea animals, and nontoxic pesticides and herbicides are available.

4. Avoid using toxic cleaning products.

Bleach and ammonia aren't great for the environment, but there are also nontoxic cleaning products available, and you might also be surprised how well vinegar cleans and disinfects. (The sour smell is temporary and it dries clean.)

5. Be a clean boater and fisher.

Fishers often lose gear like nets in the water, to the detriment of the ecosystem. Boaters need to be especially careful, because it's pretty easy to accidentally dump stuff overboard. Oil and fuel should never be dumped into water. More about clean boating and fishing