World Oceans Day: One Ocean, One Climate, One Future

Image by TimboDon via Flickr

Today is World Oceans Day. It is a day for reflecting upon the importance our oceans and its amazing inhabitants that God has created,  “… God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing which the water teems, according to their kinds… . And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas…’” Genesis 1:21-22.

It is also a time for us to consider how we’ve treated our oceans and to rethink how we can better relate to and co-operate with them instead of abusing them through establishing new habits that will help us take better care of these marvelous gifts from God. Our eco-systems are all inter-related-one ocean, one climate, one future.

The oceans cover 75% of our earth. It has the longest mountain ranges on the planet. Its bio-diversity is more numerous than the rain forests. The majority of the volcanoes are located in the oceans. It is also mostly an unexplored frontier. We have much to learn about from its depths and its inhabitants.

Please join me…

To whomever is not listening to the sea

this Friday morning, to whomever is cooped up

in house or office, factory or woman

or street or mine or harsh prison cell:

to him I come, and, without speaking or looking,

I arrive and open the door of his prison,

and a vibration starts up, vague and insistent,

a great fragment of thunder sets in motion

the rumble of the planet and the foam,

the raucous rivers of the ocean flood,

the star vibrates swiftly in its corona,

and the sea is beating, dying and continuing.

So, drawn on by my destiny,

I endlessly must listen to and keep

the seas lamenting in my awareness,

I must feel the crash of the hard water

and gather it up in a perpetual cup

so that, wherever those in prison may be,

wherever they suffer the autumn’s castigation,

I may be there with an errant wave,

I may move, past through windows,

and hearing me, eyes will glance upward

saying: how can I reach the sea?

And I shall broadcast, saying nothing,

the starry echoes of the wave,

a breaking up of foam and of quicksand,

a rustling of salt withdrawing,

the grey cry of sea-birds on the coast.

so through me, freedom and the sea

will make their answer to the shuttered heart.

Poet’s Obligation by Pablo Neruda

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As the oceans and seas call to us and draw us, let’s get a closer look. Let’s linger and marvel at the wonders God has created.

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Let’s linger and marvel at the sea of plastic man has created!

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Let’s try to rethink how we can decrease the amount of plastic we use and try to aim towards its elimination from our daily use:

1. A good alternative to plastic and paper bags is to start using a  furoshiki as as shopping bag like the Japanese have done in Japan.
2. Buy shampoos, cleansers, and other products that are sold in bulk at food co-ops so that we can reuse whatever plastic bottles we presently have for as long as possible. That way we won’t add to the present sea of plastic each time we buy a new bottle of shampoo, household cleansers, or any other product bottled in plastic.
3. Find a substitute for the cleaning products that come in plastic bottles. I’ve started to clean with vinegar and baking soda, both environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and economical.
4. Reuse glass bottles, such as salsa bottles to store leftovers in the fridge.
5. Instead of buying plastic bottles of mineral water, use a stainless steel bottle or reuse a glass bottle from mineral water (Perrier or Viche) to carry filtered water from home. In the long run this will be more economical and more healthful for us.  The dioxins and BPA (bisphenol A), carcinogens in the plastics leach into our drinking water from the plastic bottle.
6. Take a stainless steel (interior also stainless steel), thermos coffee mug with you when purchasing coffee or tea from the coffee shop. I’ve seen ceramic cups with lids that look just like the paper cups and plastic lids that cups of and teas are sold in. Again, this will be more healthful for us since the paper coffee cups are lined with plastic!
7. When eating out, take along a Pyrex or stainless steel container from home for the leftovers. This will require a little planning ahead, but it’ll be better for our bodies and our oceans. It will mean one less styrofoam or plastic container that will end up in the plastic soup. In addition to decreasing the volume of plastic soup in the environment, using glass or stainless steel containers will prevent hot or acid (tomato sauce, salad dressing) foods from leaching chemicals from the plastic into the leftovers. When it’s time to eat the leftovers, just pop the Pyrex dish or stainless steel container into the oven to warm up the food. This way you’re getting two meals for the price of one. It’s also a good way to shed those extra pounds by eating a smaller portion.

I’m interested in expanding my list of things I can do to lessen the use of plastics and aim toward eliminating them from my daily use. If you have any ideas, please  leave a comment and I’ll add your ideas to my list. Visit again to see what new ideas have been added.

There is hope as Charles Moore says in the following Youtube segment. It’s extremely important to give our oceans a rest from what we’ve been feeding it.

Please go to Here And There and Everywhere to read how bloggers around the world are observing World Oceans Day.

Please also view the World Oceans Day site to see what other ways you can help save the oceans and its creatures.

Copyright 2009 by Nurturing Wisdom

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