In the previous posts we discussed the huge problem marine litter poses to our oceans and food chain. But what can we do about it? What actions need to be taken to help stem the flow of marine litter? First, look at the single use items you use every day. Do you use single use bottled water regularly? What about plastic grocery bags? Plastic flatware at lunch time? These single use plastics are some of the highest offenders. We have turned our society into one of complete convenience with single serve everything at the local mini-mart. Reducing the number of these single serve items we use in our daily lives will help. Plastic grocery bags are also a big problem and can easily be mistaken by marine animals like turtles as a jellyfish. They could eat the bag or become entangled. Either scenario is not good.
Some simple things you can do to reduce the number of single use plastic items:
Buy bottled water in a gallon jug and carry a cup
Purchase a reusable water bottle and fill it before you leave the house
Carry your own flatware for lunch instead of using the single serve plastic
Carry your own bags for shopping
Purchase your food/snacks in larger bulk portions and use reusable containers to portion it
out
Once you have done everything you can to reduce the amount of single use items make sure that you are disposing of the items you are using properly. There are recycling centers that take plastic, and metal items. Make sure that you are disposing of your waste oil, batteries, cfl bulbs, electronics, and metal waste in a responsible manner and recycling every item that your local centers will take. Yes you will have to pay to have them take some of these items but that is the price we must bear to responsibly dispose of our unwanted items. This is why it is important to understand the life cycle of the products we are purchasing and we must make sure we have a plan to dispose of every item we purchase before we complete the transaction.
Another area where you can help is to clean up your own yard and area around your house. Make sure there isn’t any litter laying around that will get washed into the sewer drain or local stream. Once this is completed try volunteering at a community clean up. The state of Pennsylvania has an Adopt-A-Highway program where local community groups and organizations volunteer to clean up a portion of road or highway. This is a great program because it gets the litter before it has a chance to enter our waterways.
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