“An Ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure” -Ben Franklin

“What Goes Around…/…Comes Around” - Justin Timberlake

The intersection between the two concepts expressed above when applied to oceans represents both prudent marine management as well as the consequences of deep blue sea imprudence. Core to the prudent management part of this is—as bifocaled Ben suggested—that it costs a whole lot less money to remove something like nitrogen or phosphorus from an industrial or municipal process (e.g., coal-fired power plant or stormwater runoff) than it costs to remove it once it gets in the water column. (Think bubble gum off your fingers versus out of your hair).

We sense the value of this proactive approach intuitively and have verified this scientifically, yet we still let power plants operators, car manufacturers, and feed lot owners duck their de minimis cost of pollution prevention in favor of the public incurring the significant cost of clean up—not to mention the attendant health care costs associated with breathing and drinking many of these byproducts. This is bad policy and even worse economics.

The second part of this is that oceans—as large as they are and as deep as they can be—are pretty much closed loop systems. So if we dump something in the ocean or flush something down the toilet that is not captured by a sewage treatment plant or septic system, it is going to come back to us, sometimes with a vengeance. Examples of this abound such as flushable kitty litter potentially leading to distemper in sea otters and Prozac in pee making aquatic critters a little calmer than we like.

The combined message that hits us here is that we should be very cognizant of the karmic lesson of the second quote and let that drive our fervor to do everything possible to make sure that we avoid any action that directly or indirectly puts harmful materials in our waterways and ultimately our oceans. So I looked for my local representative of the Waterkeeper Alliance and located Matt Krogh the North Sound Baykeeper (the fact that Matt works just down the hall from me makes this pretty easy).

So Matt and I came up with the following short list:

1. Make your house and yard ocean-friendly. Water picks up nutrients, minerals, and many pollutants as it makes its way from rooftop to drain, to yard and then to waterway or street drains. So have water hit clean and leave clean by minimizing your use of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. And check out options for rain barrels or rain gardens to filter and slow water down. Also look for ways to minimize hard, impermeable surfaces around your domicile. Keep repeating the mantra: Slow it down, keep it clean, and help it sink in.

2. Drive less and walk or bike more. Automobile tail pipes spew nitrogen and sulfur compounds as well as other vapors and chemicals that eventually end up in waterways and cause harm. Likewise tires and brakes deposit materials on the pavement that often contain heavy metals and other harmful substances that directly harm aquatic life. Leave your car in the driveway or don’t have one at all.

3. Recycle and pick up litter. Anyone reading this website regularly knows that discarded and littered plastic and trash easily find their way from businesses and consumers to our precious waterways. Do whatever you can whenever you can to minimize the use of plastics and to use them responsibly and then recycle when you have to use plastic. And pick all other litter up and recycle it so it does not become an unwelcome and deadly part of the oceanic food web.

4. Properly recycle your oil and wash your car at commercial car washes. Do-it-yourself projects are wonderful but you need to be selective. Changing your car’s oil can be tricky and needs to be done with an oil recycling plan in mind or go to one of the commercial lubrication shops where it gets collected and recycled professionally. And although many of us might remember fondly the ritual of a bucket of warm sudsy water, a sponge, and hose fights with friends and siblings, commercial car washes often have sophisticated water recycling mechanisms and capture all that runs off your dirty car and stops it from becoming part of the water cycle.

5. Support and Help your local Waterkeeper. The last one almost goes without saying. Whether you live near a river, a bay, or sound there is likely a corresponding Riverkeeper, Baykeeper, or Soundkeeper or similar entity that looks after your body of water. Find these folks and support them financially, physically, and morally. And if one does not exist, look for ways to start one. Sulfur

Please take the above suggestions seriously because our relationship with our oceans must be a strong one, but right now it’s gasping for air and needs some help. We absolutely depend of the oceans and other waterways for life and it is time we started acting like that was the case.