Monday, August 25, 2008

So... What do we do?

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't". - (Shakespeare's Hamlet; Act II, Scene II).

What we're doing to our coral reefs scares me. It should scare you too.

I mean, look at what we're doing to them now:

Our reefs are polluted with fertilizers and pesticides from agriculture, our sewage, and our trash. Our fishing destroys the reefs through overfishing, cyanide and chemical fishing, dynamite fishing, and through using other damaging equipment. We release silt into the tater through logging, increased development and use of land, and shipping. Our boats drop anchors on them and drop diving gear on them. We chop them down for jewellery and sculptures. Runoff that we cause through soil erosion upsets their nutrition balance. Our global warming heats them up so that they eject their sunlight-absorbing algae which feeds them. We are killing one of the earth's most useful and beautiful natural resources. [link]

So what can we do to change that? Quite frankly, there is one very simple answer.

GET INVOLVED.

Most people don't do it though. It just doesn't seem to be in their best interests.

For those of you who want to make a difference though... a little change goes a long way.

  • Don't pollute/litter
  • Make sure your products are reef friendly
  • Have any aquariums? Make sure those fish were caught legally and in an ecologically sound manner (not with things like sodium chloride).
  • BE AN INFORMED CONSUMER
  • Education/information is key
  • Recycle
  • Conserve power
  • CONSERVE WATER
  • Report dumping or other illegal activities
  • Don't anchor or physically vandalize the reef
  • Don't have physical contact with any coral reefs - touch hurts them
  • Volunteer at beach clean-ups
  • Write to government representatives to take action
  • BOYCOTT shark fin's soup
  • Use ecological waste recycling systems (like Wastewater Gardens) in your community or in your own home
  • Search other ways through articles or the Internet to help groups, projects, initiatives, and ways to help - in this time and age, information and knowledge is only a click away and should be used responsibly
  • PARTICIPATE

More links:

NOAA has a very comprehensible list
This is from the Planetary Coral Reef Foundation

posted by Sage @ 8/25/2008 04:13:00 PM Comments: 0