Making Waves: Protecting Our Oceans Through Everyday Choices

Earth's oceans produce half the oxygen we breathe and are the home for an estimated 80% of our planet's life.

Jul 13, 2025

If you could make one small shift in your daily routine to help safeguard the home for over 80% of Earth's life, would you do it? Shark Awareness Day on July 14, amid the height of summer beach season, is a perfect time to explore how our household decisions can ripple out to protect creatures we seldom encounter, but play critical roles in our planet’s health. From the plastic waste we prevent to the sustainable seafood we choose, ocean conservation starts with us. And with our friends! Take this opportunity to urge your friends to observe Shark Awareness Day on Monday and to subscribe to our weekly One Step! Just share this newsletter with them with one click, and they can learn about how important sharks are in our oceans, and read weekly about all of our sustainable practices.

Marine ecosystems face tremendous threats from destructive fishing practices and pollution. As consumers, we wield remarkable power to drive positive change. We can demand that corporations make and sell sustainable products, improving supply chains worth billions of dollars. To take one small example, the rise of reef-safe sunscreen alternatives happened because beachgoers learned that traditional formulas contain harmful chemical pollutants.

From the food you eat to the products you buy, here are some ways to make a positive impact, whether you’re taking your first steps or ready to dive deep into ocean advocacy.

Quick Start: Ocean-Friendly Swaps in Your Home

Download the Seafood Watch App - Check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium's science-based guide that has influenced over $2 billion in sustainable seafood purchases. The app provides real-time ratings for fish at your local grocery store or restaurant, helping you avoid species that are overfished or caught using methods that harm marine ecosystems.

Switch to “Reef-Safe” Sunscreen - Covering up with a loose-fitting long-sleeve shirt and long pants is the most eco-friendly sunscreen. But if you want to expose your skin and protect it with cream, look for mineral-based sunscreens containing zinc oxide or titanium dioxide instead of ingredients like oxybenzone, octinoxate, or octocrylene, chemicals that bleach coral reefs and disrupt marine food chains. “Reef safe” and “eco-friendly” are not regulated terms, so study the ingredients to know whether you’re getting effective protection with less ocean toxicity.

Conduct a Microplastic Audit - Spend 15 minutes examining your bathroom and laundry area for single-use plastics and synthetic clothing. Every load of synthetic clothing put in a conventional dryer releases up to 700,000 microplastic fibers, many of which end up in the ocean. See our recent One Step article, “World Oceans Day: Fighting Ocean Microplastics From Home”, for practical ways to reduce or eliminate plastic pollution from your laundry.

Join Virtual Beach Cleanups - Pick up trash during walks around your neighborhood. Download the Clean Swell app and log your results, contributing valuable data that helps identify pollution sources and make positive policy changes more likely to pass.

Intermediate: Deeper Ocean Protection

Select Sustainable Seafood - Beyond the basic Seafood Watch app, learn to identify sustainably managed fisheries by looking for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification or Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) labels. Consider joining a Community Supported Fishery program to support local, sustainable fishing operations directly.

Reduce Chemical Runoff - Audit your household cleaners, fertilizers, and pesticides for ocean-harming chemicals. Switch to plant-based cleaners and organic lawn care products. Excess nitrogen from synthetic fertilizers creates ocean dead zones–low-oxygen areas where marine life cannot survive. In 2024, the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, largely caused by agricultural runoff, covered more than 6,700 square miles, an area the size of New Jersey.

Protect Marine Areas - Research and advocate for marine protected areas. Ocean conservation zones could generate $920 billion in annual economic benefits through fisheries recovery and tourism. Convince your friends and relatives to support expanding ocean protection to the scientifically recommended 30% by 2030, and then work together to find and support political candidates willing to make this an issue during their campaigns.

Choose Ocean-Friendly Transportation - Take public transportation or, when you must take a private passenger vehicle, drive electric vehicles to reduce emissions that contribute to ocean acidification. Choose trains over planes whenever possible. Ocean acidification, caused by burning fossil fuel anywhere on Earth, threatens shell-forming marine life.

Advanced: Leading Ocean Conservation

Organize Community Action - Start a local ocean conservation group or join existing organizations like Surfrider Foundation. Organize beach cleanups, help implement plastic bag bans, and encourage better stormwater management in your community.

Become Well Informed - Learn about ocean policy issues and lead voter education efforts about marine protection legislation. Find aspiring politicians who are willing to introduce legislation to entice or coerce people (especially people working in corporations) to change their bad practices that are causing our overfishing and pollution problems. Environmental initiatives like Joe Biden’s 30x30 executive order (protecting 30% of land and ocean by 2030) need grassroots support to become a reality.

Invest in Ocean Solutions - Invest with impact in companies developing ocean-positive technologies like sustainable aquaculture or renewable energy. The blue economy sector is projected to reach $3 trillion by 2030, offering opportunities to align financial returns with ocean health.

Support Ocean Science - Donate to or volunteer with marine research organizations. Citizen science programs like iNaturalist allow you to contribute valuable data about marine species distribution and abundance. Your observations track ecosystem changes and recovery efforts.

Expert: Systems-Level Ocean Protection

Develop Corporate Engagement Programs - Work with businesses to adopt comprehensive ocean sustainability practices. Help companies audit their supply chains for ocean impacts, from seafood sourcing to plastic packaging.

Create Educational Programs - Develop a curriculum for schools and communities about ocean conservation. Partner with aquariums, marine science centers, and environmental education organizations to expand ocean literacy.

Champion Indigenous Ocean Knowledge - Support indigenous communities who have successfully managed marine resources for thousands of years. Many traditional fishing practices are inherently sustainable, and indigenous-managed areas often show better conservation outcomes than conventional management approaches.

Measure and Track Impact - Establish metrics for ocean conservation efforts in your community. Track reductions in single-use plastics, improvements in water quality, increases in sustainable seafood consumption, and growth in marine protected area support. Use data to demonstrate success and attract additional supporters.

The Ripple Effect of Ocean Protection

Every choice you make sends ripples through interconnected systems. When you choose sustainable seafood, you support fishing communities that depend on healthy ocean ecosystems. When you reduce plastic use, you help protect marine animals from entanglement and ingestion. When your government protects marine areas, entire ocean food webs begin to recover.

The ocean produces half of the oxygen we breathe and absorbs a large amount of our pollution. Your ocean-friendly practices can do more than save a few underappreciated species like sharks—you can help maintain the systems that sustain all life on Earth.

The oceans’ vastness can make individual efforts seem insignificant, but remember that the sea is made of drops. Your decisions contribute to the tide of change needed to protect our beautiful blue planet for all future generations. Will you download the Seafood Watch app, wear a shirt and hat instead of sunscreen, or commit to one sustainable seafood meal this week? You can launch waves of change whenever you choose!

References and Resources

Seafood Sustainability

Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch - Science-based seafood ratings and sustainability guides
Marine Stewardship Council - Global certification program for sustainable fishing
Best Aquaculture Practices - Certification for responsible aquaculture

Ocean Conservation Organizations

Ocean Conservancy - Marine debris research and Clean Swell app
Surfrider Foundation - Local chapter network for ocean protection
Oceana - International ocean conservation campaigns

Marine Protected Areas

NOAA Marine Protected Areas - U.S. government MPA information and benefits
Mission Blue - Hope Spots campaign for ocean protection
World Wildlife Fund Ocean - Global marine conservation initiatives

Citizen Science

iNaturalist - Global biodiversity observation network
Reef Check - Volunteer coral reef monitoring
eBird - Bird observation data for marine and coastal species

Scientific Research

Ocean Health Index - Annual assessment of ocean health globally
Scripps Institution of Oceanography - Earth science research and education
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - Ocean research, exploration, and education

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