10 Healthy Ocean Tips to Live By
Healthy Ocean, Healthy Lifestyle
Healthy living is all about balance, connection, and discovery. Even though very few of us live zero impact lives—if you live near the coast—it’s important to recognize when you’re not living in harmony with your ocean environs. We can make healthy oceans a priority in our lives simply by learning about the ocean’s wonders, being grateful for how it makes you feel when you jump in, catch a fish, or bring your family and friends together at a beautiful clean beach. Healthy lifestyles aren’t just about eating well and exercising regularly. Its also about being mindful of our waste, caring where our food comes from, and protecting places and habitats for future generations.
Here are 10 healthy ocean tips to live by:
1. EXPLORE THE OCEAN!
- Pick up a new hobby, like snorkeling or scuba diving
- Embark on a Naturalist-led voyage for your next holiday
- Participate in a fish count or coral reef survey
- Use guide books to get to know the species in your backyard of favorite marine ecosystems
2. EDUCATE YOURSELF AND THOSE CLOSE TO YOU ON OCEAN ISSUES
Understanding the ocean, its habitats, and the problems the ocean face, are crucial (yet fun) activities we can engage in! It’s vitally important that we learn as much as we can about the ocean and natural world, teach our children, and change our behaviors for a better future.
- Gather your friends and families on the beach. Play, relax, bbq, explore the shore, share stories and spread the knowledge!
- Read your kids books and send them to camps that teach them about ecology and living sustainably
3. EAT A HEALTHY, BALANCED, PLANT-BASED DIET & KEEP ACTIVE
When you take care of your body, you will be more attentive to protecting your ocean environs. Click here to read more about the synergy of inner & outer oceans.
- Try out a balanced climate-friendly diet and new exercise routine! See our 2 week ‘Fit Beach Bod’ plan here.
- Eat the rainbow: a wide variety of vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds and wholegrains provides your body different nutrients that keep you healthy and strong.
- Be mindful where your food comes from: If its available, go for local, organic options that RELY LESS on unhealthy ingredients, harmful chemicals, animal cruelty, fossil fuels, and genetically-modified industrial monocultures.
- Drink lots of water and stay clear of overly processed, sugary foods with “empty calories.”
4. LOSE THE SINGLE USE PLASTICS
Did you know 1.4 billion pounds of trash per year that enter the ocean (primarily plastic), kills 1 million seabirds per year?! In 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea”–where plastic packaging is the primary culprit–according to a World Economic Forum report. In order to cut down on single use plastics:
- Don’t buy bottled water
- Ban the plastic bag
- Use reusable shopping bags and cups
- Ask for “No straw, please!”
- Properly dispose, recycle and reuse your plastics and butts (cigarette butts are made out of plastic and hazardous chemicals like arsenic!)
- Cut out single-use plastic disposables and reduce plastic packaging from your businesses, homes and regular daily activity
5. IMPROVE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
We can prevent rapid rates of warming and ocean acidification by improving our carbon footprint:
- Burn less fossil fuels and switch to clean, renewable energy sources
- Insulate your home or office, and turn off lights when you leave a room
- Walk, bike, use public transportation, or carpool to work or school
- Replace outdated light bulbs and appliances with newer, more efficient models.
- Eat Less Red Meat from Cows
6. BE AN INFORMED CONSUMER WHEN YOU SHOP AND TRAVEL
Consider carefully where your food and textile products comes from. It also makes a difference in communities where you spend your money when you travel :
- Read the small print on packaging correctly: Look for unhealthy ingredients, research the product’s sustainability and ethical labor standards.
- Choose green accommodations & green textiles from companies that care about aquatic life protection. I.E. non-toxic Badger sunscreen and Bionic Yarn jeans, made from recycled ocean plastic instead of conventional cotton.
- Choose local sustainable seafood! Fortunately, you don’t have to rely on fish to get omega-3’s. You can choose plant-based omega-3 options instead: Flax, chia, hemp, nuts.
- If available, source your produce and animal products from your local organic (or mostly organic) farms. Or even better, grow your own!
7. SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE LAND & OCEAN USE
Too many of our nutrients and toxins from land enter the sea. This can cause coral reef bleaching, harmful algal blooms and dead zones that can devastate ocean life. Scaling green and blue infrastructure on land and in the ocean is a critical step in protecting our ocean. We all have a part to play:
- Don’t Use Chemically Enhanced Pesticides and Fertilizers
- Support sustainable fisheries management
- Ban clear-cutting and over-grazing near reefs
- Reduce topsoil erosion and our reliance on chemicals and fossil fuels in agriculture and urban development
- Filter urban run-off before it enters the sea
8. INNOVATE & BE HIP
There are so many amazing breakthrough technologies and innovations that are improving ocean health, green living, and exploration! Be hip and ride the wave of green and blue innovation:
- Drive a Tesla
- Upcycle your old stuff
- Live in a well insulated tiny home or prefab studio in a dense urban area
- Buy edible and biodegradable six-packs of beer
- Make your own natural cleaning products
9. SUPPORT MARINE PROTECTED AREAS
A critical way to restore ocean biodiversity and buffer climate change is to establish “marine protected areas” (MPAs) in sensitive or critical habitats. Unfortunately only about 4% of the world’s oceans are currently protected, and the vast majority of existing marine parks and reserves are poorly managed and funded. Many opportunities exist to continue improving these statistics and expand marine protected areas:
- You can support marine protected areas simply by visiting or volunteering for them
- Consider donating to marine protection groups such as the World Wildlife Fund to help expand and better manage MPAs
10. ENGAGE AS AN ACTIVE CITIZEN
Don’t forget about the critical role our governments play in creating healthier environments for the people and geographies they serve. Beyond making big lifestyle decisions such as cutting red meat out of your diet, it is equally important to exercise your political arm. Consider the following:
- Write your legislators and attend Town Hall meetings to voice your concerns about the health of your backyard
- Call your local representatives to demand they overhaul the approval process for the estimated 80,000 untested chemicals in our products that end up in waterways, wildlife and our bodies
- Donate to blue organizations and politicians who support policies that keep our air and water clean
- Volunteer for ocean causes and beach cleanups