Image: Aquarium of Pacific

You can make a difference to the health of the ocean no matter where you live. With a few changes in your life, you can help address the major issues facing the ocean:

What you can do?

• Reduce energy use. Ride a bike, walk or use public transportation to reduce pollution from driving your car. Use energy efficient appliances in your home, and turn off appliances when they aren’t in use. Turn up your thermostat a few degrees in the summer and down a few degrees in the winter to save energy. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in your house.Eat sustainable food. Carry a sustainable seafood card. Ask your seafood restaurant or fish market to buy from sustainable fisheries.

• Look for special terms like "line caught", "diver caught", "sustainably caught" or "sustainably harvested" when buying seafood.

• Use less and/or reusable plastic products to reduce plastic debris that degrades ocean habitats and chokes marine birds, sea turtles and marine mammals who mistake floating plastic for food. Use cloth grocery bags and non-plastic water bottles and coffee containers.

• Properly dispose of hazardous waste (e.g. motor oil, batteries)

• Avoid leaving garbage and litter on streets and beaches, which often ends up in the ocean. Volunteer for beach and river clean-ups.

• Use less fertilizer in gardening and agriculture. The excess eventually ends up in the ocean.

• Buy ocean-friendlly products. For example, avoid cosmetics containing shark squalene and jewelry made of coral or sea turtle shell that contribute to destruction of ocean habitats.

• Be wise in choosing marine species for your pets. Ask if they have been sustainably harvested or caught.

• Avoid releasing pet fish and other marine species into nearby ponds, lakes, rivers or beaches. Many of these species are exotic and can become invasive.
  
  

Additional Resources:

Aquarium of the Pacific: http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/10/ocean_on_the_edge/what_you_can_do/
National Geographic - Mission Blue: http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/iamtheocean/
Oceana -  Living Blue: http://na.oceana.org/en/living-blue
Smithsonian Ocean Portal: http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-and-you/
The Nature Conservancy - Global Marine Initiative: http://www.nature.org/initiatives/marine/activities/