Local businesses can be a mighty force when it comes to protecting the ocean, according to the Texas State Aquarium. As part of its observance of World Oceans Day on June 8, the aquarium offered a few tips on how the Coastal Bend business community can help keep trash out of local waters.
“All our streets have gutters that lead to storm drains,” said Leslie Peart, vice president of education and conservation at the aquarium. “After a big rain, everything is swept into the ocean.”
Last month, big rains were an almost daily occurrence, flooding streets and filling storm drains with trash. Some of the biggest culprits are single-use grocery bags and outdoor trash bins without lids.
Consumers can switch from single-use plastic grocery bags to paper or reusable bags, the aquarium suggests.
“Or simply ask each customer if they need a bag to begin with,” Peart said. “The best thing anybody can do right now is reduce their single-use plastic.”
Single-use plastic items are just what they sound like: a product used only once and then trashed. The five most common single-use plastic items that end up in the ocean are cigarette butts, food wrappers, beverage bottles, bottle caps and drink stirrers. All are items that can either be easily disposed of properly or replaced with reusable items.
Local businesses can also provide recycling and trash containers for customers, but lids are essential on outside trash bins in the windy Coastal Bend.
“These are such simple steps, but they are so important,” Peart said.
During World Oceans Day, the aquarium is encouraging people to pack trash-free lunches, use refillable bottles or mugs and drink from the container without using a straw.
Monofilament for fishing is another major concern that threatens ocean wildlife, Peart said, and she doesn’t mean the baited and hooked lines dangling from poles. Discarded monofilament is invisible to underwater creatures, which can be cut to bits when trapped in its unbreakable tangles. Fishing line tangled around reefs damage or outright kill coral.
The Texas Stream Team created the Monofilament Recycling Program, which protects birds, fish and other marine animals by recovering lost monofilament. For more information, visit txmonofilament.org to view a map of more than 50 recycling kiosks across the state. Several are in Port Aransas.
Businesses wishing to take conservation a step further can join or host trash cleanups. Get in touch with the Texas General Land Office to adopt a beach or a highway. What is on the land can always find a way into the ocean if we don’t get it into trash bags first.