How to Enjoy an Environmentally Friendly Beach Vacation

The toxic algae bloom that plagued Qingdao, the Olympic sailing course for later this summer, brought to our brief attention a major crisis in our oceans. In the past century, we have destroyed our oceans through pollution and overfishing. Algae blooms, such as the one in Qingdao, have become ten times more common over the past fifty years. Oxygen depleted areas of water, dead zones, have also become more and more prevalent over the past half century. Dead zones are caused by fertilizer runoff and are common where rivers terminate in the ocean, such as the huge dead zone south of the Mississippi Delta. Algae blooms can decimate fish populations and make shellfish poisonous to humans, because they absorb all of the toxins in the water.

Ask any fisherman how well his catches are doing, and you will hear all about how they are fishing for smaller and smaller fish with smaller hauls, because the large fish are becoming increasingly less numerous. Bottom trawling and dynamite fishing destroys environments for fish to breed. Many young fish fail to reach maturity, and this type of fishing has killed off eighty percent of the living coral reefs in the Caribbean over the past thirty years. Also, an estimated one million seabirds and one hundred thousand marine mammals and sea turtles die each year from ingesting or become entangled in ocean trash. So when you go to the beach this summer, consider the following how to list.

1. Before you travel to the beach, check your car to make sure it is not leaking any chemicals that could end up in the ocean once you get there.

2. Look online for beach quality reports which tell you which beaches are currently polluted. Will save you a trip if a beach is closed.

3. Consider carpooling, and be sure to do so in the most fuel efficient car available to the group.

4. Ride a bike or walk around town for short distance trips whenever possible.

5. Instead of buying new swim apparel each year, wear old clothes that can get dirty at the beach and be thrown out eventually.

6. Do not leave any trash on the beach. Use available receptacles, and be sure to pack your own trash bag in case there are not any receptacles available nearby. If you use your own bag, be sure to take it home with you.

7. Clean up any debris or litter you see on the beach left behind by others.

8. Recycle all material, especially all of those plastic drink bottles.

9. Pack your drinks, food, beach accessories in reusable bags, not plastic bags.

10. Eat less meat and try to buy as much locally grown food as you can.

11. If you bring any pets on the beach, be sure to clean up any droppings.

12. Rent a sail boat instead of a motor boat. Practice clean boating if in motor boat.

13. Do not mess with the ecosystem by bothering creatures or plants. Do not take live souvenirs home.

14. Turn off the air conditioner in your hotel room or beach house when you are not going to be home or spending time inside.

15. Take short showers and watch levels of all water usage.

16. Use the walkovers at beaches instead of walking across dunes. Dunes protect the land against storm waves and shelter plants and animals.