As divers and the lovers of the ocean, we want to keep the ocean as it should: clean and plastic-free. We know how harmful and destructive plastics are to the marine environment. However, have you ever thought about your impact to the marine environment when you go diving? Here are some simple ways you can be environmentally friendly on your dive and snorkel trips!
Ditch the single-use plastic bottle – a thing of the past
If you already haven’t done so, stop buying bottles of water at the convenience store or the supermarket. Get yourself a reusable water bottle that you can fill up wherever you go. Most dive shops should be able to provide you with refills. You don’t have to add to the 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic that are already in the ocean.
If you need an eco-friendly water bottle when you come diving/snorkeling with us on one of our trips then we have some for purchase as well!
Surface interval snacks – without the plastic
We all know that diving and snorkeling in the water takes up a lot energy. That means we will always need snacks to last us until lunchtime! Have you thought about where the plastic wrapping of your honey-coated peanuts will end up? If it doesn’t end up in the land-fill, you may see it again, maybe days, months or years later when you go diving. Otherwise an animal may mistake it from food and ingest it causing health problems or even death. Fruits are a great alternative to plastic wrapped snacks as the waste is biodegradable. Another way to reduce plastic waste is to buy foods from plastic free shops, like Bali Buda where they’ll use plastic alternatives (like paper bags, banana leaves) where possible.
It’s not your rubbish, but pick it up – its everyone’s responsibility
Wherever you go diving or snorkeling or even strolling along the beach, seeing plastic wedged between colorful corals or floating on the surface has become an inevitable sight. Just because you didn’t throw that piece of plastic into the ocean, doesn’t mean you should be ignorant and leave it there. We can all help by taking a few pieces of rubbish with us and disposing of it responsibly. Non-profit organisations such as Take3 developed a simple idea to tackle the ever-growing problem of marine debris: simply take 3 pieces of rubbish away with you and you’ve made a difference. Project AWARE also has their flagship citizen-science program, Dive Against Debris®, which empowers scuba divers to remove marine debris from the ocean and report data on the types, quantities and locations of materials collected.
Here at Blue Season Bali we have adopted a dive site called the Jetty in Padang Bai, where we do regular clean ups! We also support our local Trash Hero chapter.
Let us know if you have any other ideas of making our dive/snorkel trips as environmentally friendly as possible!
