OVER SEAS -- News -- Local Action -- Northwest Bohol

Call to Action!
Simple ways you can help save our seas

Stop littering our planet: Reduce, reuse, recycle (especially plastic).
Read labels on tuna cans; buy only those products that respect marine life.
Find out how and where fish at your local market is caught before you buy.
Use unbleached or white toilet paper -- colored paper contains dyes that pollute our water systems and, eventually, the ocean.
Use phosphate-free washing powder, detergent and other cleaning agents.
Don’t take shells or other ‘souvenirs’ from the beach.
Pick up any rubbish you see and dispose properly.
Avoid using water-polluting household chemicals. Instead use eco-friendly substitutes such as vinegar (an all-purpose cleaner) and sodium bicarbonate (a bathroom cleaner/mold remover).
Report to authorities any illegal dumping or fishing activities you discover.
Let your government know how you feel about issues affecting the marine environment: Write local and national officials, or phone the newspapers.
Draft your own Ocean Charter (member-countries of the IOC will have their own Ocean Charter, which will be presented and adopted in 1998 as a highlight of the IYO). Get people in your neighborhood to sign your Charter, then present it to your mayor or barangay captain and request that it be displayed prominently in your municipal or barangay hall.
Show you care: Wear a blue heart in 1998.

Anything on your mind?
If you have any call to action to add to the above list, or anything at all that you want to say about our ocean and marine environmental issues, drop us a paragraph or more through our e-mail box.