This summer has provided a new opportunity to be outdoors with my son, as, thanks to his grandfather, he’s lately embraced fishing as a pastime. Pulling fish out of the water is a great activity to take on with a kid; not only can it be exciting and a way to get some sun and fresh air, but it also provides a great backdrop to discuss concepts such as the food chain (from small fish to big fish to humans), animal rights (is it fair to use worms? Is it fair to eat the fish?), and ultimately the state of our lakes and animals that live in them. Namely, why it’s not always safe to eat the fish we catch. Talking about this last point with him had me reflecting more deeply on the impacts of humans on the fauna of our planet. Some points for consideration:

• A recent study of fish in the Great Lakes by the conservation group Environmental Defense found high levels of PCBs and mercury were present in specimens caught and concluded  “a fifth of the 2009 advisories examined in this report were for zero consumption levels, meaning it is not safe to eat such fish at all. This is unacceptable, from recreational, economic, and human health perspectives”.  These chemicals are entering the lakes in small amounts through sewage, but more dramatically from emissions from coal-burning power plants.

• Conventional growing of products such as cocoa and coffee beans requires the clear cutting of large swaths of rainforest and the use of pesticides to make up for the loss of nutrients in the soil that occur when growing a single crop year-round. This results in the loss of natural animal habitat causing migration and imbalance in food chains as well as pesticide leach into the groundwater that affects the water supply of wildlife in the region.

• It is estimated that over the past 60 years 5% of the world’s post-production plastic has entered the world’s oceans; approximately 100 million tons. According to the UN, this has resulted in almost 46,000 pieces of plastic debris floating on the surface of every square mile of ocean, 70% of which is plastic bags. It is projected that humans use approximately 1 million plastic bags per minute, usually for an average of just 12-20 minutes and recycle only one in every 200.  Many of these bags, once disposed, end up in the ocean where they are mistaken for food and kill many species of birds, whales, dolphins, seals and turtles each year through suffocation, poisoning and drowning by being entangled.

The above examples, although they may seem unconnected at first are really making the same point. Human activity, particularly in production of goods, can have a profound impact on wildlife through displacement and, more significantly, through the release of waste and chemicals into bodies of water. This issue becomes further concerning once we consider the effect of bio-amplification, as elegantly explained below by the World Wildlife Fund when discussing chemicals in the ocean:

Tiny animals at the bottom of the food chain, such as plankton in the oceans, absorb the chemicals as they feed. Because they do not break down easily, the chemicals accumulate in these organisms, becoming much more concentrated in their bodies than in the surrounding water or soil. These organisms are eaten by small animals, and the concentration rises again. These animals are in turn eaten by larger animals, which can travel large distances with their even further increased chemical load.

Animals higher up the food chain, such as seals, can have contamination levels millions of times higher than the water in which they live. And polar bears, which feed on seals, can have contamination levels up to 3 billion times higher than their environment.

So what to do? The answer, as always, begins with looking at how we live and what we buy. Some simple first steps:

• Buy products free from toxins and chemicals in order to prevent them from going into our sewage and into our lakes. This is particularly relevant with products like dishwashing soaps, laundry detergents and home cleaners, which go almost immediately down the drain.

• Look for organic products when buying chocolate, coffee and cotton to have the confidence pesticides were not part of the manufacturing process.

• Reduce the amount of disposable plastic you use by using a permanent metal water bottle and bringing your own bag when you go shopping to help prevent more plastics from ending up in our oceans.

Tags: Bags, Organic, pesticides, toxins

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