This past summer, I returned to Samaná, Dominican Republic for the second time to teach various subjects. One weekend, I decided to relax at a local beach. As I was gathering my things to leave, I saw a young child finish a soda bottle, place the cap on the bottle, and throw it into the sea.
It's unlikely that this child knew that his plastic would take 500-1,000 years to degrade or that it would likely float and drift for years before concentrating in an ocean gyre comprised of billions of pounds of plastic. It's unlikely that he knew that one million sea birds die each year from plastic in the oceans like the water bottle he had just discarded. What, then, can be done to spread education on the importance of protecting our oceans?
The key, in my view, to augmenting access to environmental education, is to mandate it in the elementary school curriculum of developing countries. Approximately 80% of Dominican children attend public schools. Therefore, requiring education on climate change that focuses specifically on reducing ocean pollution would be a great step toward conserving the marine ecosystem in the region.
Many locals with whom I spoke during my time in Samaná informed me that the coral reefs are dying in Samaná's bay due to overfishing and pollution. They face a formidable challenge in restoring the pristine Samaná Bay, but hope remains. A few days before I left Samaná, I witnessed dozens of locals participate in a beach cleanup in which they removed piles upon piles of trash from the polluted coast. It is through efforts like these and education on ocean conservation that Samaná can reduce the pollution caused by a lack of awareness on the potential hazards of a seemingly innocent act like throwing a water bottle into the ocean.
Sources:
https://www.ecowatch.com/22-facts-about-plastic-pollution-and-10-things-we-can-do-about-it-1881885971.html
http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/reviews-of-national-policies-for-education-dominican-republic-2008_9789264040823-en
It's unlikely that this child knew that his plastic would take 500-1,000 years to degrade or that it would likely float and drift for years before concentrating in an ocean gyre comprised of billions of pounds of plastic. It's unlikely that he knew that one million sea birds die each year from plastic in the oceans like the water bottle he had just discarded. What, then, can be done to spread education on the importance of protecting our oceans?
The key, in my view, to augmenting access to environmental education, is to mandate it in the elementary school curriculum of developing countries. Approximately 80% of Dominican children attend public schools. Therefore, requiring education on climate change that focuses specifically on reducing ocean pollution would be a great step toward conserving the marine ecosystem in the region.
Many locals with whom I spoke during my time in Samaná informed me that the coral reefs are dying in Samaná's bay due to overfishing and pollution. They face a formidable challenge in restoring the pristine Samaná Bay, but hope remains. A few days before I left Samaná, I witnessed dozens of locals participate in a beach cleanup in which they removed piles upon piles of trash from the polluted coast. It is through efforts like these and education on ocean conservation that Samaná can reduce the pollution caused by a lack of awareness on the potential hazards of a seemingly innocent act like throwing a water bottle into the ocean.
Sources:
https://www.ecowatch.com/22-facts-about-plastic-pollution-and-10-things-we-can-do-about-it-1881885971.html
http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/reviews-of-national-policies-for-education-dominican-republic-2008_9789264040823-en