The GoVacuum Blog

70% of Earth is covered in water, precious to humans and all of the flora and fauna that depend on it for life. But these waters are becoming more polluted on a daily basis through bad habits and carelessness. Birds are strangling on abandoned fishing lines and plastic bottle rings. Sea creatures are choking to death on Styrofoam and plastic bits. Coral is dying from poisonous spill offs as are all marine life as it struggles to maintain balance in an ever-increasing flow of toxic waste, dumping, oil spills, and other harmful inorganic material.

With each ecological oversight, we are affecting the ocean’s organisms as well as ourselves. When any type of non-organic substance is ingested by a sea creature, it is passed along the food chain where it eventually ends up in our food. A small fish eats a toxic plant, a larger fish eats the small fish, and so on until that toxin has made its way to our dinner plates.

Let’s list some of the harmful ways in which we pollute our water systems and how we can change our habits.

Plastic Bags
• Only use reusable bags

Pick Up Your Trash
• Make sure you take away everything you’ve brought with you that is leftover
• Secure your outdoor trashcan so garbage does not blow away on a windy day
• Never throw trash into the water
• Keep all your valuables, including food, secure when you are sailing, boating, jet skiing, or cruising so nothing blows overboard

Driving
Unless you are driving a 100% eco-friendly vehicle, even the smallest emission will penetrate the atmosphere. Once it rains gasses convert into acid rain, which is toxic to water creatures once it penetrates the ocean. Car batteries are also toxic once fluid gets into the water supply.
• Buy the most energy efficient vehicle you can
• Carpool
• Make sure your car battery doesn’t leak
• Dispose of your battery responsibly

Boating
By keeping a boat’s engine running, the chemicals in the exhaust leak into the atmosphere and water, which is the kiss of death for many ocean creatures.
• Don’t’ take your boat out unless you have to
• Turn your engine on to full capacity only when absolutely necessary
• Store and transport your gas in an area where it is not in direct sunlight to avoid evaporating vapors
• Buy an engine with the newest green technology possible
• Switch to a sailboat

Fishing
• Keep track of all your gear. A line, lure, or hook left behind is a murder weapon against birds and sea creatures

Pesticides and Fertilizers
Treating our gardens with inorganic pesticides and fertilizers leads to run off, that is deadly to bodies of water.
• Use organic compounds to get rid of pests and to fertilize your gardens

Smart Disposal at Home
• Make sure you dispose of all inorganic materials responsibly.
• Recycle plastic, glass, metal, and paper
• Recycle batteries at a local battery recycling center
• Use organic cleaning products to prevent run off into waterways

There are many other ways that our waterways are becoming hazardous. Oil spills, the dumping of harmful materials, landfill leakage, mining, toxic farming methods that use lethal chemicals, and heavy metals discharged from factories all add up to a damaging recipe. The prevalence of lead alone in our oceans is a great cause for concern as the ingestion of this metal can lead to brain and kidney damage, birth defects, hearing problems, slower growth in children, and more. Mismanagement of car and house paint, water pipes, lead batteries, and bullets are other culprits. Then there is medical waste dumping, where needles and other materials are infected with hepatitis, AIDs, and other viral and bacterial diseases. Human waste that comes from sewage pipes sharing the same space as storm water drains is another hazard as rainfall causes drains to overflow, mix with the waste, and eventually find a path to rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans.

All of these dangerous practices require vigilant attention, by the appropriate authorities and by each and every one of us who has the absolute right to a clean and conscious planet.

-Michele Kadison