50 ways to love your ocean and coasts
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1. Conserve energy
Doing so reduces demand, saves money, and lowers your carbon footprint, which will help keep our ocean healthy. If you replace appliances, water heaters, or lightbulbs, consider ones that have been EnergyStar-certified. Speaking of energy, your local utility companies may offer clean or renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Check with your local utility company to better understand the options.
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2. Reduce water use at home.
Water is a limited resource and is critical for sustaining humans and wildlife. Save water by turning off the faucet when not in use, fixing leaky faucets and pipes, and investing in WaterSense products if possible. If you notice an unexpected spike or steady increase in your water bill, that could be a sign that you have a leaky toilet, faucet, or pipe. Work to fix it ASAP!
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3. Reduce the use of paper products to help save trees,
preserve our forests, and maintain healthy watersheds. Invest in cloth napkins. Cut up old t-shirts and towels for dust rags. Consider using a washable mop head instead of one-time use ones. Reduce your need to print on paper by using digital products. If you must print something, use recycled paper.
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4. Reduce your commuting carbon footprint.
If it’s an option, telework, carpool, bike, walk, or take mass transit to work. Reducing your carbon footprint will help reduce the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and keep our ocean cooler and less acidic.
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5. Be careful when disposing of hazardous or polluting materials.
Check with your local municipal or county authority for information about recycling or properly disposing of paint, pesticides, electronics, batteries, and other potentially toxic materials. Do not flush unused medications down the toilet or throw them out with your trash. Check the FDA’s unused medicines website for how to safely get rid of drugs and other medications.
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6. Maximize recycling and reduce waste.
Most cities and counties have their own recycling programs and procedures. Check their website to make sure you’re doing everything you can to ensure that your recycling counts. Properly dispose of all materials so they don’t end up in our waterways and contributing to the growing worldwide problem of marine debris.
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7. Plan for emergencies.
Hurricanes, floods, heat waves and other natural disasters are becoming more frequent and intense. To get a glimpse of the future and inform your planning, visit NOAAReady.gov: Plan Ahead for Disasters Sea Level Rise Viewer (https://coast.noaa.gov/slr/). To understand the past, use NOAA’s Historical Hurricanes tool (https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/historical-hurricanes/).
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8. Reduce your plastics use when you have the opportunity to do so.
Marine debris is a world-wide problem getting worse every year. Choose and use reusable containers for leftovers, don’t release balloons into the air, bring your own cup and straw to the coffee shop, and reuse cloth bags at the grocery store. Avoid beauty products that contain microplastics, and consider using a filter to catch microfibers from your washing machine. Don’t leave anything behind when you visit the beach, and learn about how harmful marine debris is to the species that call the ocean home.