52 For The Blue

     The ocean is water. Water is life. The oceans are life, more literally than most people realize. The ocean is the water that makes up 70 percent of human cells and, therefore, 70 percent of the human body. The ocean is the moisture in the air that is a predominant force in weather and climate. The ocean is the iceberg and the currents that regulate this, as well as the estuaries and seas packed with life we often associate with the term ocean. As Captain Paul Watson says, Earth is the Planet Ocean. The seas link and have always linked people, not divided them.

     The oceans are under attack from anthropocentric greed driving a short-sighted desire for material gain today at the expense of any prospects for a livable tomorrow. It is estimated that 8 million tons of marine debris flows from rivers and is dumped off of boats every year, washing up on beaches and strangling the very ecosystems that make up most of the planet. Half of this is fishing gear, making it the single-largest source of ocean pollution.

     As the nets and lines dissolve into microplastics, everyone suffers: the average human consumes a credit card worth of plastic every year. It permeates the most remote regions of the world, as it was discovered in the polar and subpolar ice caps recently.

     Removing a few pieces of plastic will not save the oceans. Change requires even a small percentage of people experiencing a collective change in conscious. Stopping fish consumption and single-use plastics consumption is the only final solution. However, what better to inspire this collective shift in awareness than direct action? Why not see the problem firsthand and allow others to see it? 

     It's time to step up our game. We've heard of "Three for the Sea." Why not "52 for the Blue?" I live in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and, by the definitions I gave earlier, I can make a difference for the ocean. A stream, a pond, a lake, a river, a bay, or a sea are all ridden with plastic pollution. Anyone, anywhere in the world has the power to make their home a little cleaner. "52 for the Blue" involves cleaning up 52 pieces of trash every year, or one a week (on average). More trash with a more expansive vision of what the ocean is means more people will have more reason to care and less reason not to.

     Why not start your "52 for the Blue" journey today?