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For my whole life, I have been conscious of my impact on the Earth. I have witnessed the destruction of deforestation, the near extinction of species, and the temperature of the planet rising at an alarming rate. It wasn't until my senior year of high school in AP Environmental Science that I discovered one of the biggest impacts of climate change that very few people see with their own eyes, coral bleaching. We watched a documentary, Chasing Coral (https://www.chasingcoral.com/the-issue/), and I will never forget the pit in my stomach as the tears streamed down my face. There I was, sitting in class, watching coral die and the habitat deteriorates right before me. I felt guilty that this had been happening and I wanted to curl up in a little ball thinking about poor Nemo and all his neighbors who had to move. That's when I went home and wrote down as many documentaries and books as possible on coral reef conservation. I discovered Sylvia Earle, a marine biologist, and oceanographer, who has clocked in over 7,000 hours underwater while witnessing coral bleaching right in front of her eyes. Earle also has a documentary and organization called Mission Blue (https://missionblue.org/the-film/). Yes, I cried while watching this as well. 

Earth is made up of 71% water, which means that the climate change impacts we see on land are very little compared to what is happening underwater. I don’t want to sit here and spit out numbers and facts to you about coral reef bleaching because let's be honest, would you stick around for that? I would like you to know that a massive amount of our oxygen on earth, at least 50%, comes from the ocean. The coral reefs are an essential part of a happy ocean, meaning without coral reefs there goes about half of our oxygen production. 

Now I want you to close your eyes and let all that sink in. I don't know about you, but that scares me. 

Learning all of this information has affected the way I live my day-to-day life.

How I have altered my life with preserving the corals in mind.

1. Purchasing products in plastic-free or reusable packaging so it does not end up in landfills or the ocean. 

I am all about reducing, reusing, and recycling which benefits not only the land environment but also the ocean. I am very conscious about picking out products, such as beauty products and food/drinks, that come in packaging, such as a glass jar, that I can reuse for other things. I use glass bottles as flower vases, skincare glass dropper bottles for essential oils, and pasta sauce jars to make pickles in. I once read that all the plastic ever made is still on the planet somewhere, it never goes away. Purchasing plastic-free and reusable packaging will help keep the oceans clean and the corals happy. 

2. Reef safe sunscreen 

This was a big one for me because I live at the beach during the summer and I plan on taking a lot of vacations in the future that involve being in the ocean around reefs. There are two types of sunscreens, chemical sunscreen, which contains very harmful chemicals to not only the reefs but to humans as well, and mineral/physical sunscreen, which does not contain any harmful chemicals. The two main ingredients that you want to avoid in sunscreen are Oxybenzone and Octinoxate. These chemicals disrupt the reproduction of coral and damage their DNA. I experimented with a couple of different mineral-based sunscreens and I have a few favorites. 

1. All Good Mineral Sunscreen https://allgoodbodycare.com/ offers a wide variety of face, body, and lip products to help prevent sun damage. They also offer plastic-free packaging which is a huge bonus. 

2. Raw Elements https://www.rawelementsusa.com/ is another brand that offers a variety of products. This brand also includes its line of products targeted towards babies and children with more sensitive skin. This brand originally caught my attention because they have a page where you can purchase a World Reef Day t-shirt where 25% of the purchase goes toward https://www.sustainablecoastlineshawaii.org/ and https://friendsofhanaumabay.org/. 

3. Coola Mineral Sunscreen https://coola.com/ focuses on sustainable and organic ingredients. This brand offers fruity, floral, as well as fragrance-free options which I found appealing. This sunscreen also blended in the best. 

4. Badger Balm Sunscreen (my personal favorite)  https://www.badgerbalm.com/ is a product that I could always find in my Granny's beach or hiking bag and to this day I reach for it at the store. They have an entire page on their website about how their sunscreen is “Safe for reefs means safe for you.” 

3. Steer clear of harmful chemicals in lawn care and switch to green products. 

You may not consider this necessary if you don’t live near the ocean, but as the movie Nemo explains, every drain leads to the water system. Things I have done include over-seeding the yard so that there are no patches which leads to weeds and the use of more chemical herbicide use. My family and I have also switched to an organic fertilizer and strayed away from the synthetic fertilizer. Last but not least, my dad never packaged the leaves in plastic garbage bags during the fall season. We mow them and use them to create mulch that is very high in nutrients for the grasses. 

These three things alone have reduced my carbon footprint and damage to the corals significantly. If everyone did these simple things then the coral reefs of the world could bounce back and thrive once again. I plan to continue to spread my awareness of coral reef conservation. Corals hold a special place in my heart, and they don't have a voice for themselves, that is what I plan to be for them. 

Clare Magargal