Be a Part of the Solution on World Ocean Day

Happy World Ocean Day!

This brief post is meant to arm you with the knowledge and know-how to take action to protect our oceans.

According to the WWF,

Over 80% of marine pollution comes from land-based activities
A staggering amount of waste, much of which has only existed for the past 50 years or so, enters the oceans each year.

From plastic bags to pesticides – most of the waste we produce on land eventually reaches the oceans, either through deliberate dumping or from run-off through drains and rivers. This includes:

  • oil
  • fertilizers
  • solid garbage
  • sewage
  • toxic chemicals

From that bit of information we become quite aware that there are small changes we can make to help keep the oceans clean. However, to become part of a larger group of concerned citizens dedicated to the health of our oceans you may want to consider joining up with one of these five groups:

1. The Surfrider Foundation

OVERVIEW
The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, California, the Surfrider Foundation now maintains over 50,000 members and 80 chapters worldwide.


2. Save Our Seas

OVERVIEW
Save Our Seas Foundation is a non-profit making organisation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Its purpose is to implement and support diverse programmes centered around the protection of the Earth’s marine environment.
Four elements drive the Foundation forward:
Conservation
Awareness
Research
Education
These four principles act as the heart of the Foundation’s mission in providing the inspiration for the urgent preservation of the planet’s marine heritage.

3. Heal the Ocean

OVERVIEW
Heal the Ocean focuses on wastewater infrastructure – sewers and septic systems – as well as other municipal operations that contribute to ocean pollution.
We have five goals:
1. Zero pathogens in sewage discharges
2. A significant reduction in use of septics
3. Reduced stormwater contamination
4. Elimination of ocean dumping
5. Elimination of coastal landfill pollution

4. The International Seakeepers Society

OVERVIEW
We are a Society of concerned, socially-aware individuals who share a common view that the only intelligent and practical solutions to the degradation of our oceans and to the changes taking place on our planet will come from plain, unadorned science-based facts.

5. World Ocean Observatory

OVERVIEW
The World Ocean Observatory is an Internet-based place of exchange for ocean information, educational services, and public discourse about the ocean defined as an “integrated, global, social system,” thereby relating the ocean to climate, biodiversity, fresh water, food, energy, human health, trade, transportation, policy, governance, finance, coastal development, and cultural traditions.

W2O advocates through communications, building public awareness and political will for ocean sustainability through international networks, partnerships, organizations, educators, and individuals. Please join us.

Ocean Conserve put together a whole list of links to organizations dedicated to protecting our seas. Check it out here.

Also, to get your kids on board, check out the wonderfully colorful and informative children’s book All the Way to the Ocean by Joel Harper

image credits: Whale–public domain, wikimedia commons
Each organization’s logo was copied from their website

2 thoughts on “Be a Part of the Solution on World Ocean Day”

  1. Thanks for the resources. I just got back from three hours at the beach (Pacific Grove, CA), just down the street from my apartment, and I am passionate about protecting the Ocean.

  2. I don’t wanna say anything bad but those people are playing god if they expect to bring the animals back to life!

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