Let’s Make The World A Better Place
Recently, someone on Steemit that I've come to know and care for, has suffered a set back. She was robbed. her dream business was destroyed. Simply ripped apart, gutted for copper wire. The gut reaction is to send SBD. After all, we want to help those we care about. But it wasn't the robbery that was the problem... the problem is, There's a place in the world for burglars
They were stealing copper to melt for money for food... that's how desperate things are in her part of the world. They need food. Which got a few of us thinking... what can we do to Make the World Better for all?
For me, I spend my time learning about and playing in the oceans. I am after all, mostly made of salt water (hey, we all are!) My home (Earth) is more than 70% oceans. I don’t like seeing garbage floating in the sea… it’s where I prefer to get my food from.
Do you know how much plastic garbage we toss away a year?
According to a study in Science Magazine, 78 Million tons of plastics are produced a year. Almost 32% end up in our oceans. Only 9% is recycled per year. According to another New Study some 99% of plastic debris in the ocean is unaccounted for, not seen, nor measured, yet! we know it gets dumped, but no idea where it ends up.
Another group of scientists from the US, France, Chile, Australia and New Zealand suggests a minimum of 5.25 Trillion with a T plastic particles in the oceans, most of them “micro plastics” measuring less than 5mm. Published, PLOS, Dec. 2014. These plastics, which take between 500-1000 years to completely break down, are less than 5 mm in size.
So, why does all this matter?
On average on this planet, we dump abut a garbage truck’s worth of plastic in to the oceans every minute A recent study, conducted by Adventure Scientists shows Plastics are in every river, stream, lake, and ocean. They found micro plastics in the Marianas Trench deep under the ocean surface, in glacial water on top of the worlds tallest mountain peaks… literally every body of water studied.
Studies show 1 million sea birds are killed, and over 100,000 mammals, by plastics. Some species, almost 32% of them have plastics in their stomachs at death.
Again, why does all this matter?
Recent Meta-analysis, studies of studies, show, that the Earth’s farms and food production, can currently support less than the 7 billion people we have on it. some show that we should either be at 5 billion or less, or that we need 1.5 Earth’s to feed our current population. So many of today’s people do NOT have enough to eat. What are we gonna do about it?
Looking at the Earth, we see 70% of the surface is oceans, and not land. Why not just eat all the food growing there?
What if we had our farms at sea? Well… not sure about you people, but I’d rather NOT eat plastic.
This past week, I was a conference with global leaders in Oceanographic Research and Analysis, leaders in conservation food, and more... Bob Ballard, noted National Geographic Explorer, called for more of our food to be based on the Oceans. I agree… however, Farming fish is not an answer if they’re living in a garbage dump. All we do then, is move the toxic trash to ourselves in the end.
So, what do we do to get more food into our plates? safe foods?
Again, why does all this matter?
We need to look to the Australians, and others.
Decades ago, Aussies started farming tuna. Literally, creating these massive floating pens, and raising tuna from young, though harvest. At first, they were being fed Fish Meal, plant material and other land based foods. Then, an experiment was tried… sure, Tuna are carnivores, but they’re not idiots.
Someone tried a soy based diet. Given the choice between starving, or eating soy based feed, the Tuna chose to eat. After harvest, the Sushi was flown to New York, and served at a high-end fundraiser, featuring top chefs in the city. Imagine the shock when they found out they were eating farms raised, Vegetarian tuna?
The next part of the study involves raising a couple of generations of tuna eating a feed made from ocean growing Algae. The study isn’t peer-reviewed, nor published yet, but the data is simply amazing!
Last Step, why does all this matter to us?
I’m still not eating’ it, until we solve the fact that our food is swimming in a toxic dump of plastics.
That means, you, me, all of us need to stop with the plastic mess we make.
Stop tossing away our trash. It ends up in the oceans, and our food.
And get everyone around us, to stop, too.
Why not?
It means, Less Garbage more, and safer food.
