Office of Sustainability Newsletter Volume 11, June 2021

Congratulations! You've made it through another tough semester and it's finally time to relax. With the summer ahead of us, hopefully, filled with long sunny beach days, we want to focus this month's newsletter on how to enjoy those beach days, whilst also practicing sustainability.
Read on to find out the impact of increased beach traffic on our environment and what we can do to combat it!

As many of us flood to places like the North Coast, Alexandria, Sokhna, and many more, there tends to be a sharp increase in beach litter that directly harms the environment by polluting the beach waters and endangering many sea creatures. The ocean is one of our biggest and greatest natural resources that face industrial waste and spillages all year round yet during the summer months especially as everyday citizens become one of its biggest threats.

Billions of pounds of pollutions end up in our oceans every year and a large chunk of it is due to human activity along the coastlines in areas like public beaches, which is especially heightened over the summer months. The most visible types of beach pollution include things such as cigarette butts (around 4.5 trillion of those litter the environment annually), food wrappers, and plastic bottles which are left behind by beachgoers. When these end up in the water they lead to increased production of nitrogen and phosphorus which can cause excess algae growth at a rapid rate. This can be detrimental to aquatic ecosystems, blocking light and depleting oxygen. They can also release toxins that pose a threat to humans and wildlife.

Furthermore, this litter causes a direct threat to wildlife, with beach litter alone affecting approximately more than 800 species of wildlife globally. Over 100,000 seabirds, sea turtles, seals, and other marine mammals die each year after mistaking plastic for food and swallowing it or getting entangled in it. With plastic making up the majority of marine litter it poses a huge threat to the environment and it will also last more than 450 years in the environment.

This is just a small look into the effects of beach litter that increases dramatically over the summer. Check our Go Green Guide below for practical tips on how to practice sustainability this summer and protect our beaches! For more information on this topic also check out our list of recommendations at the end of the newsletter.

1. Ensure that you have with you a tote bag or a reusable waste bag to throw your litter in when going to the beach in case there is no nearby litter box. We know snacks are an essential part of all beach days, and we can still enjoy them whilst also protecting out environment!
2. Try to avoid taking multiple plastic water bottles to the beach, and invest in a larger reusable bottle that you could fill up and keep with you the whole day.
3. While swimming in the ocean, if you find any plastic bags, bottles or food wrappers try to take them out with you and dispose of them correctly, in order to protect any sea creature that could've ingested it.

June 5th: World Environment Day
Environmental awareness is the main goal of World Environment Day. Form a daily ritual that allows you to convene with nature and let yourself discover the connection between people and the environment. This will help you begin to understand our responsibility to our land, the waters and each other which benefits our well-being, and the health of the planet.

June 7th: World Food Safety Day
To draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.

June 8th: World Oceans Day
World Oceans Day aims to raise awareness of our oceans’ role in our existence and show the importance of our oceans in sustaining life on the planet. World Oceans Day is a call to remind each and everyone of us to say no to plastic and switch to a zero-waste lifestyle to prevent ocean plastic from getting worse and to urge world leaders to protect our blue planet.

1. Netflix Documentary: "A Plastic Ocean"

This longer documentary goes into the details of the worrisome extent of plastic pollution that is in our ocean. The filmmaker goes underwater to investigate just how much plastic there really is in our oceans and what environmental impact is may have on us and marine life.

2. Youtube Video: "Why 99% of ocean plastic pollution is 'missing' ?"

This short youtube video by Vox tries to understand why scientists cannot find more than 1% of the estimated 8 trillion tons of plastic in our oceans. They do so by focusing on various garbage patches around the world that pose a huge threat to marine life and our environment. They discover the various types of plastic disposed of in the sea, and why some of it is hidden.

Click here to find out more about this mystery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsjvwQclGLo

3. National Geographic Article: "Bali fights for its beautiful beaches by rethinking waste, plastic trash"

This article is an example of how one very popular tourist destination country like Bali, is worried from the effect of increased traffic on its beaches and the waste that tourists leave. They have done so in many ways such as banning plastic bags and straws and attempting to change the mindset of the people who visit its beaches. This is an interesting short read on the effects of beach tourism and human action on our environment and gives potential solutions to such a big problem.