Leave nothing on the beach but footprints
Healthy seas are the life-sustaining system for our planet:they provide 97 of the habitat on our planet. To help keep our oceans and marine life sustainable, we need to keep our beaches clean.
This is because they provide the habitat for many living beings that need both land and sea to survive. And also living beings that live exclusively in the sea are affected by the pollution of our beaches, because garbage that accumulates on the beach finally gets into the water with the tides. In addition to plastic and paper waste, chemical substances and human excretions also enter the sea from the coasts.
Plastic waste in the sea pollutes every living organism. Many carcasses of marine animals washed up on our beaches have large proportions of plastic waste inside them.
Every bather and every walker can make his own contribution to keeping beaches and seas clean. Each of us can make a difference, and we can teach our children that they too can adopt a “green” way of life from an early age. If you’re not getting involved yet, this summer is ideal to start:
“Take 3 for the Sea” is an organization that teaches environmental awareness by encouraging people to collect three itemsof garbage each time they leave the beach or other water. We can make a difference with this. In the meantime, 129 countries are already participating in this programme, where 300,000 people have already contributed to the fight against plastic waste.
2. Do not drink water from plastic bottles. Did you know that every minute of the world more than a million plastic bottles are sold.
3. Large amounts of energy and water are needed for their production – and eventually they end up in our landfills.
Therefore, use reusable alternatives to plastic bottles. Reusable water bottles are available virtually everywhere. However, the PiMag®Water Bottle with its nanotechnology filter system is only available at Nikken. At home, you can make your contribution by drinking filtered water from the PiMag Waterfall – which is equivalent to an Active Wellness lifestyle and minimizes your carbon footprint.
Use reusable bags and containers. Avoid buying food packaged in plastic. For example, if you buy fruit and vegetables, you should buy them as a whole, rather than plastic-packed pre-cut fruits and vegetables. Use cloth shopping bags.
Minimize the use of chemicals as much as possible. Pesticides, fertilizers and weed killers harm the world’s oceans. The closer you live to the sea, the more likely your chemicals are to end up there. Some 245,000 square kilometres (comparable to the size of the UK) are already considered “dead zones” where marine life cannot survive due to the chemical pollution of the ecosystem.
Choose mineral sunscreen or sunscreen with non-nano-zinc oxide as the main active ingredient. Chemicals such as oxibenzone and octinoxate, which are common in sunscreens, are not environmentally friendly. If these substances come from your body into the sea, you can damage the DNA of corals. Sunscreens without these harmful substances are referred to as “organic/eco suncream” or “reef-safe” or “reef-friendly”.
4. Be careful not to flush any medications or non-degradable products such as wet wipes down to the toilet. Drugs have been detected in groundwater and marine life. In 2017, 4,500 wet wipes were counted in a 154-square-metre area of the Thames in London – just one example of things that aren’t dismantled after flushing in the toilet!
5. Share your tips for an environmentally friendly lifestyle with friends, acquaintances and family members. The more people contribute, the greater our chances of keeping coastal and marine life alive.
Leave nothing on the beach but footprints.
