Today is World Ocean Day. The oceans of the world, like many other ecosystems, are under threat by human actions. We take what we want from the oceans and dump our waste into it without a second thought. But this cannot continue forever.
Things you can do today to help protect the world’s oceans:
Stop eating fish and other seafood. Over 60% of the world's fish stocks are fully fished (meaning at the sustainable limit) and another 30% are over fished (past this limit). In one of the more common methods, giant trawlers scrape the sea floor and remove everything in their path. Bycatch is a problem too - 40% of the marine animals killed from fishing are unintentional 'byproducts' of the fishing industry. Most of this is thrown back into the ocean, dead or dying. On top of this, half of all plastic pollution in the ocean is fishing gear, nets and baskets, known as 'ghost gear'. This floats in the water for decades, putting wildlife at risk of entanglement.
Remove meat and dairy from our diets. Land animal agriculture is responsible for devastating damage to the ocean in many ways. Animal waste runs into waterways, turning areas like sections of the Gulf of Mexico into dead zones, where there is no longer enough oxygen for marine wildlife to live. Fertilisers and pesticides from crops fed to animals, as well as antibiotics and hormones, form part of this runoff and don’t break down easily in water, being carried out through our rivers into the ocean. Animal agriculture also creates 18% of our carbon dioxide emissions, which increases ocean acidification as the water soaks up the carbon dioxide and creates carbonic acid.
Stop using single use plastics. Every minute of every day, two rubbish trucks worth of plastic are dumped into the ocean. Plastic doesn't biodegrade; it only turns into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic that are toxic to marine wildlife. Most of the marine wildlife we research is affected by plastic pollution, with many animals mistaking bits of plastic for food, or getting tangled in plastic handles or rings. Our recycling rates for plastics are woeful, at only 9%, so relying on recycling is not the solution. We need to remove the problem at the source by drastically reducing the amount of plastic we make in the first place. Zero waste shopping is one way to do this.
These statistics and facts can be overwhelming and disheartening to read. But change can happen when individuals decide to make a change for themselves, and encourage their family and friends to do the same. Moving towards a zero waste, vegan lifestyle is the biggest thing we can do to reduce our impact on our oceans this World Ocean Day and beyond.
If you’re interested, learn more about World Ocean Day here.
At Twist and Sprout we aim to ensure our products are safe for our oceans and waterways. Everything in store is vegan, in alignment with this ethos. All our cleaning products are septic and grey water safe. Our Onya products are made from recycled plastic bottles, stemming the flow of waste. Even our sunscreen is reef safe!
🌱 Twist and Sprout is part of Sprout Village, promoting climate action, degrowth, community and simple living 🏡
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