We take so much from the ocean and it doesn’t ask for much back. Sure, sometimes it takes from us–a shark attack, a lone sailing boat, a deep-water movement that shifts into a tsunami. But how could it not, in its nature? The ocean is untamed and all-encompassing, by definition. It is our living planet and we are just floating atop its islands.
Somehow though, it doesn’t demand respect. It lets fishing boats drag massive nets across its floor, lets surfers WAPOW! off of the faces of its waves, lets developers erect breakwaters so tourists can swim in a flat, textureless ocean.
This, the ocean could ignore. This was us doing what we can to eat, have fun, and be safe. This was us taking and taking while the ocean gave and gave because we needed it.
But now something different is happening, across the entire ocean. Its water is warming, forcing sharks and orcas and whales far out of their normal paths, into strange beaches, scaring us humans. The warmer water brews strong storms of disruption onto our land, destroying our cities. Its water soaks up the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as it has always done, filtering out the poison in our air. But now it is taking up so much that the ocean's very essence - its water - is becoming acid. Acidic and toxic to everything that lives within it–starting with the coral and mangroves and seagrass and kelp–the base that sea creatures need to keep up their health. Plastic is covering its surface, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually becoming a part of its very water.
This, is not just taking. This is destroying the ocean without reason. And how could it survive as its soul, its water, deteriorates, from our continuing mistakes and endless consumption? This magnificent being, capable of the wildest storms, fiercest beauty, and most delicious fruits, is dying from our doing, and we have not let up our attack.
SO
Today, June 12, Instagram a nice photo of you on the beach and change some habits.
Stop using plastic! Buy a water bottle. If you live in a developed country, you can (most likely) drink the tap water. Stop being a snob. If you live in Bali, your gym, your hotel, probably has a water dispenser. Stop being lazy and wait 10 seconds to fill a bottle. Maybe you use that time to meditate and come up with new ideas. Tell the cashier you don’t need a plastic bag. Stop putting an apple in a plastic bag in your tote bag and coming home to take the apple out of the plastic bag out of the tote bag and then to throw that 20-minute-use plastic bag straight into the trash. We’ve all done it, but it’s time to stop being ridiculous. Drink from a glass. Stop giving yourself mouth wrinkles sucking plastic straws. Read these Buy/Stop statements again. None of these things are hard.
Stop emitting so much CO2! Stop breathing so much, only inhale. Just kidding. Stop blasting your AC while you huddle underneath a thick duvet, blanket, and sheet, just because you feel more cozy. Stop opening windows in the dead of winter, and tell your landlord it is too hot in the building. Stop buying an electric heater to keep warm in the dead of summer, and tell your building manager it is too cold in the office. Tell them they can save an extraordinary amount of money and/or save the ocean. Most of all, stop leaving your AC on full blast when you leave the house. Stop being an asshole.
If everyone did these things, it would make a difference. These things don’t require anything. These things save you money, energy, time, and have the side effect of rescuing a dying planet. And its not even everyone who has to do these things - most of the world doesn’t have AC, most people boil their water.
It’s just us, those who can access my highly data-draining Squarespace from my Instagram using some fast wifi. Us who have the ability to stop destroying the planet for those who don’t have a say.