Conservation-Conscious: Part 2 What we think about

On a daily basis people go out to eat, shop for groceries, etc. When Jordan and I do these daily tasks, we are constantly thinking, 'Please do not give me a plastic straw’. When we order take out, we ask that they do not give us styrofoam. When we grocery shop, we try to inspire everyone to use reusable grocery bags. While we stroll the isles of produce, we wonder where they came from, and how many resources were consumed to get them to this store. We always try to shop local! But most of all, we are constantly noticing the plastic in our lives. Our shampoo bottles, our toothpaste containers, the packaging on pepper grinders and new kitchenware...the list goes on. When we see these things, we are immediately thinking of where they will end up if they're not recycled, which is often the case. And unfortunately, under our current recycling system, there is a pretty low chance that any plastics that we do consume will actually end up being recycled. Not to mention that until recently, we just shipped all recyclables to China, which is yet another draw on fossil fuels and pollution. These plastics do not break down, mostly because nothing has evolved to digest this unnatural, man-made substance. When organisms accidentally mistake plastic items for food, they then end up in the bellies of our seabirds, sea turtles, reef fish, sharks, whales, even coral polyps...It is devastating. These critters do not have digestive systems that can break down these plastics, thus they just accumulate over time.

These are things we think about on a daily basis. While it is easy to see the devastation, we try to incorporate a positive light into these thoughts: what can we do to help, does our city have a recycling program, what is the environmental curriculum in our local schools, do families have access to programs to educate themselves on these topics? We hope that we can share this valuable information to you to create a network of ideas and thoughts to help create a positive change. Together, we can be that change and make a difference! It’s really about the small changes that we all can make in our daily lives. Likely, no one of us alone will save the earth. It has to be a team effort, and it really isn’t that difficult! Just be conscious about what you buy, limit plastic, and shop locally. Could you sacrifice one small comfort, with the idea that if you do, it may help future generations live on a healthier planet.

If you could save one animal from extinction, who would it be? Would it be the sea turtles? Would you save the sharks? The corals? (FYI corals are animals; each coral is actually composed of thousands of tiny, little stinging polyps!) What if you could save them all? The marine ecosystem is a fragile system of connected inter-workings. The corals provide habitat and nurseries for reef fish, which in-turn provide food for sharks and larger predatory fish. If you disturb one minute portion of this web, it can all fall apart. That’s why it’s so important to take care of our planet. How will you save that one animal from extinction?

#plastics #recycling #marinelife #coralreefs