Reduce consumption of single-use plastics. Carry a reusable cup, use reusable bags when shopping, and avoid products with excess packaging when possible (or let companies know you want them to reduce their plastic packaging). Most of the plastic waste found in the ocean comes from the fishing industry, but unfortunately there’s no established accountability process for recycling or retrieving fishing nets. However, even household plastics break down into micro-particles that are very common pollutants in our waterways and oceans, ending up in the bodies of the oceans’ creatures.

Conserve water at home. Shut off the faucet while you brush your teeth or shave, minimize watering your lawn (or replace your lawn entirely with low-water landscaping) or washing paved surfaces, and consider ways of soaking up rain to prevent water run-off during storms. The water we use eventually makes its way to the oceans, along with any of the pollutants it collects along the way. By reducing our at-home water consumption and reducing stormwater runoff, we also help to slow the flow of chemicals from our lawns, our buildings, and our roadways, giving more time for natural filtration processes to clean contaminants as water flows towards our waterways.

Assess your carbon footprint using the resource below, and take action to reduce your emissions. Oceans have been a heat sink for the initial global temperature rise from climate change, protecting us from reaching severe temperature extremes, but becoming less inhabitable as a result. Coral reef bleaching, ocean life die-offs, and increasingly volatile hurricane and typhoon storm seasons can all be linked back to the carbon emissions fueling the climate crisis.