Protecting Our Oceans

G’day folks, this month’s installment of the green spot is coming to you from Australia’s beautiful Gold Coast. As I’m soaking up the sunshine here while looking out over the ocean,  pondering whether I should brave the slightly cold water and jump in, I was contemplating the health of our oceans.

Looking out over the clear, blue waters of the Gold Coast, hearing and watching the waves crashing on the sand, and feeling mesmerized by the natural beauty of this area, I wouldn’t have any second thoughts about pollution or cleanliness of the water here. But unfortunately, this is not the norm around the world.    Recently, I came upon some very frightening statistics about the health of our oceans. For example, a staggering 80% of sewage in developing (and some developed) countries is discharged untreated; polluting rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. Would you go swimming in Nagoya’s Horikawa Canal? Thought not! But you’d have no problems jumping into the Mediterranean sea, right? Who doesn’t dream of a vacation on the Med? Ibiza anyone? Guess what…the cleanliness of the water is not much different from Nagoya’s Horikawa canal. The Mediterranean sea is one of the most polluted seas in the world!!! How about the Caribbean? Wanna take a nice cruise to any or all of the beautiful islands there? Might as well jump into the Canal! Shocked enough yet? Thats just the tip of the rapidly melting iceberg. I’m just getting started…

Points contributing to oceanic pollution:
-Oil spills such as the recent one in America are major disasters for our oceans and marine life, as well as for humans.
-Pollution by cruise ships. Vacationers on ships contribute about 20% to the oceanic pollution
-pollution by illegally dumping trash. According to scientists, there’s a Texas-sized area of illegally dumped plastics and other pollutants floating in the pacific ocean. If you’ve never been to Texas, just believe me that this is Huge. It’s bigger than the entire Tokai area.
More facts and how all this affects you, can be found here:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ocean-pollution-facts.html

Its not just the oceans, folks.  For example, In the US, 40% of rivers are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life. That’s in a first world country! Things look much bleaker in the emerging superpowers such as China or India where certain bodies of water are so polluted that it’s considered unhealthy just to go near them.
I wish we could blame someone else for those problems, but the reality is that if we’re looking for someone to point the finger at, all we need to do is look into a mirror. It is due to our greed,  incessant materialism, and ego-centrism  that things have gotten so far out of hand. It is not too late to change, however. Speak up and make your voices heard. These kinds of injustices can’t keep going on, and we can’t allow them to keep going on. If we want our kids or their kids to be able to enjoy the same kinds of outdoor aquatic activities that we were able to enjoy our whole lives, if we want to preserve our way of life, or perhaps even better it, then we need to start implementing a drastic and immediate change in the way our oceans and other bodies of water are treated, in order to salvage what’s left of our clean, pollution-free waters, and start cleaning up the rest.
Join an NPO, talk to your congressmen, donate money for a good cause, volunteer (to clean up beaches), get educated…do anything you can to help out. But most of all, speak out against the continuing injustices being done all over the world (under the disguise of progress and profit). Things aren’t going to change unless we actively perpetuate change.
So when you go to the beach this summer, think of the impact of pollution on our oceans and try to leave the beach as clean and trash free as you found it.
Better yet, if you see some people leaving behind their trash, including cigarette butts in the sand, take a proactive approach and say something, because thats the only way things are gonna change. Change can only come from people like you. You may think you can’t do anything, but every little bit helps, because perhaps your actions will inspire others, who will inspire others, who will…. You get the point. I keep saying this, but if there was ever a time to help promote change, it’s NOW! Become the change you want to see in the world. RIGHT ABOUT NOW!

about the author

Achim was born in Germany, raised in the States, and is currently living in Japan. Due to this multicultural upbringing, he's an ecclectic mix of all three places. He started traveling at a young age (first with his family, later on his own), which helped foster his fascination with different places around the world. That fascination eventually grew into a full-grown passion for wanting to show the world around us and how precious this world is. He is now a professional free-lance photographer working for travel agencies, magazines, and businesses, providing various kinds of photographic services both in Japan as well as internationally. Achim's journey into photography really started about 5 years ago when he found himself living in Japan and in need of a new camera. Through chance encounters, he managed to break into the Photography profession, and has been doing it ever since. Looking through the lens taught him to see the world around us in a new way and really appreciate all aspects of nature and people. He also studied Psychology, has an M.A. in TESOL, and is a licensed Massage Practitioner. Since late 2008, he started working on RAN Magazine and was one of the original co-founders of the Magazine. He enjoys Japan and likes exploring new facets of the culture. Don't forget to like him on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ALBAS-INC-Photography/179107081677 www.albasphotography.com

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