8 Ways to Help Save the Oceans (and Why you Should)

There is so much pollution in the world that mankind has created, especially in the oceans. With the population growing, more and more bodies of water are being taken over by plastic, so it’s imperative that we help make a difference and help save the oceans.

Prevention is key, and there are a few actionable measures that you can take to help protect the oceans and the animals within them.

Why you Should Help Save the Oceans

Did you know that there’s a garbage patch in the middle of the Great Pacific Ocean that’s twice the size of Texas? It’s called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

And guess what? There are four others. GPGP just happens to be the biggest.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch was discovered in the 1990s and the Ocean Cleanup has launched a system called Wilson to help gather the garbage and plastic to recycle it and clean up the oceans.

The Ocean Cleanup estimate that they will clean up 50% of the GPGP within 5 years, and 90% by 2050. By those statistics, it goes to show you how much plastic is in the oceans and how we need to work on making sure it doesn’t get there in the first place.

Ocean currents break the plastic down into smaller pieces (microplastics) which then get mistaken for food by aquatic life. This ends up poisoning them or killing them. There’s also marine life getting caught in garbage and plastic in the ocean and consequently killing them.

Learning about all this, it really makes you realize that we need to make certain lifestyle changes to help the oceans by making sure that our own garbage and plastic doesn’t take its spot in one of these patches.

How does garbage end up in the ocean?

80% of garbage and plastic in the ocean comes from land-based activities, and the rest comes from being thrown overboard, intentionally and unintentionally.

Garbage ends up in the ocean because:

1. People aren’t recycling plastic which ends up in landfills and then gets blown into water streams.
2. People leaving trash on beaches that get washed or blown into the ocean.
3. People littering the streets where garbage and plastic make their way into the sewers and waterways which leads to oceans.
4. People throwing trash overboard when on a cruise, boat, etc.
5. Ship cargo lost at sea from containers falling off ships in storms or getting lost in shipwrecks.
6. Illegal dumping by industries and individuals.

Something to remember is that most waterways lead to the ocean eventually.

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How you can help save the oceans

Here are 8 ways that you can help save the oceans with very minimal effort.

1. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

The average US and Canadian individual produces almost 15 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

These greenhouse gases increase the water temperature, causing glaciers to melt and raise the sea level.

Carbon dioxide emissions from households, cars, and factories are absorbed by the oceans which alters the chemistry of the ocean waters. They call this ocean acidification.

Lowering your carbon footprint will help protect the oceans and the coral reefs especially.

With the acidity in the oceans rising, the coral reefs may be extinct in 50 years, which is a problem considering that coral reefs are home to many species.

Read my post 30 ways to reduce your carbon footprint to get started!

2. Sort your Garbage & Plastic

Like previously mentioned, the plastic that ends up in landfills ends up there because the consumer poorly sorted them.

When plastic ends up in landfills, it ends up getting blown away into waterways because plastic is lightweight.

These waterways usually lead to oceans, polluting ocean waters and threatening marine life.

Recycle your plastic accordingly and under your community or government guidelines to ensure that your plastic is getting recycled and not ending up in the ocean.

Also, make sure you’re recycling everything you can, not just plastic.

If there are certain household products that cannot be recycled by your community, check out TerraCycle that can recycle many things for you.

By recycling with them, you’ll receive points that you can use to compete for prizes and promotions.

3. Use Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products

The products you use to clean around your home may end up down the drain which will enter and contaminate waterways and end up in the oceans.

You can purchase environmentally friendly cleaning products that don’t contain harmful chemicals to help keep the oceans clean.

You can also opt to use natural ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, and citrus fruit like lemons and oranges for a natural way to clean your home.

Check out my post homemade products using essential oils for DIY cleaning recipes using natural ingredients like these.

4. Wear Ocean-Safe Sunscreen

Plastic and garbage isn’t the only thing harming ocean waters. The type of sunscreen you use can have harmful effects on the ocean, especially the coral reefs.

There are chemicals in certain sunscreens, and once these chemicals are in the water, the corals’ defences are decreased against bleaching, which damages their DNA and hurts their development.

When people wearing toxic sunscreens go swimming, they’re carrying these chemicals into the ocean waters.

Ocean-safe sunscreens are becoming more and more available, so it isn’t hard to find an eco-friendly sunscreen.

Get a reef-safe sunscreen and ideally plastic-free as well, like this sunscreen from Eco Roots that uses all-natural ingredients.

5. Don’t Exploit Marine Life

There are certain activities and products that exploit marine life like aquariums and zoos.

Animals like killer whales, dolphins, penguins, etc. belong in the wild and are not a source of entertainment for humans. Often, these animals and marine life are mistreated.

Unless these animals are in captivity for rehabilitation, they should be in the ocean where they belong.

You should also avoid buying jewelry and souvenirs in stores that contain corals, starfish, shells, etc. or products that contain turtle shells unless you know that these were obtained naturally like picked off the beach.

Corals are bought a lot for home decor and gifts, but they are living animals that eat, grow, and reproduce.

It’s important to not contribute to the demand of corals to ensure that coral reefs don’t become extinct.

6. Buy from Brands that Help Save the Oceans

There are brands who dedicate themselves to cleaning up the beaches and oceans one purchase at a time.

1. 4Ocean

Sells bracelets and reusable water bottles and will remove 1 lb of garbage from the ocean per purchase.

They make the bracelets from the plastic they collect from the ocean.

2. Reef

Sells a range of shoes for men and women. They clean beaches and remove trash from beaches.

They’ve removed 300,000 pounds of trash so far.

3. United by Blue

Also picks up 1 lb of ocean garbage per product sold when you purchase something from their wide range of clothing and products.

They’ve removed over 1.7 million pounds of trash and that number keeps growing.

7. Clean Up Beaches

It goes without saying that you shouldn’t leave your trash on the beach when you’re visiting.

This garbage is easily washed away in the tides only to make its way through the ocean waters.

Bring a bag with you and pick up after you leave to reduce plastic pollution.

Additionally, pick up any trash or plastic you find on the beach to ensure it doesn’t end up in the ocean.

You can even take it a step further and attend or host a beach cleanup!

8. Use Less Plastic

Considering that most of the garbage that ends up in oceans is plastic, it’s important to try to use less plastic to reduce ocean pollution.

Since plastic is so durable, it doesn’t degrade naturally.

Instead, it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic over time, eventually falling to the ocean floor or getting eaten by marine life who are mistaking it for food.

It’s important to recycle plastic, but recycling takes so much energy that it should be a last resort.

The best things we can do is to reuse as much as we can, use less plastic and reduce the amount of waste we create by living as close to a zero-waste lifestyle as we can.

There are many ways and products that will help you reduce your waste to make zero-waste an easy process.

Opting for a more plastic-free lifestyle is one of the best ways that you can make a difference.

You don’t need to be completely zero-waste to help the environment. I mean, let’s be honest – it’s almost impossible! But every little change really does help.

Final Thoughts on Ocean Conservation

As you can see, there are many easy ways that you can help save the oceans, just by making simple changes at home and in your day-to-day life.

It’s estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. That’s why it’s so important for us to use less plastic in as many ways as possible.

Check out my post about ways to use less plastic to learn more about becoming plastic-free.

Share these ocean conservation tips or save them for later!