Our world has had a collective pause to do life at a slower pace, to consider our effect on the planet, to learn and to grow. At REEF, we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished over the years; we have always supported environmental organizations and helped them make great strides for the health of our planet. We recognize that this is all part of a bigger picture, that these are steps on a path we’re creating toward greater sustainability.
As we have settled into this unexpected time of pause, our appreciation for our ocean and treasured open spaces has grown exponentially. With every passing day, even simple acts like a stepping into sand feels much more important.
What we have discovered within this pause has reaffirmed our commitment to help protect our ocean and to find new ways to do even more to support the cause.
Throughout our collective pause, we have sought to understand the ripple effects of our actions, and how our individual choices add up to create global impacts - sometimes ones we can’t even see. To learn more on how this applies to the health of our ocean, we asked our friends at @Surfrider about how our small choices contribute to big impacts, and learned that our plastic pollution problem doesn’t end with what you might find littering the shoreline... that’s only the beginning. Our ocean and waterways are filled with plastic pollution. At least 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing 268,940 tons are currently floating at sea.
Our pollution impacts more than our beaches, our communities, and our health— it impacts all the creatures who call the ocean home, at an alarming rate. At least 80% of the marine debris impacting marine ecosystems and wildlife is plastic pollution.
In case you needed one more reason to ditch single-use plastic water bottles... an international study of microplastic in bottled water found an average of 325 microplastic particles in each liter of bottled water. This is a product of the bottle breaking down over time and shedding plastics into the water inside, which we then consume.
So, what can we do about it?
How you can take Action with Us
We can always do better – nothing has changed about that concept. We are not perfect, but we will continue supporting great organizations by amplifying their voices, improving product sustainability, encouraging more volunteerism and bringing opportunities to support these programs to you. This is all part of a bigger picture, and these are steps on a path we’re creating toward a brighter future.
We recently asked our social followers to tell us what they pledge to do to help reduce their impacts on our ocean and coasts. For each pledge we received, we donated $5 to our partners at the @surfrider Foundation and @Robmachado Foundation on their behalf raising over $10,000. Follow @reef on social for future news and updates, and take action with us today by checking out the below links:
@Surfrider
Get informed: https://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog
Get involved: https://www.surfrider.org/chapters
Give: https://www.surfrider.org/support-surfrider
@robmachadofoundation: https://www.robmachadofoundation.org/donate
We can do better together!