143 Pleasant Street Portsmouth, NH 03801 (603) 431-0260 info@blueoceansociety.org 
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Conservation

Get Involved!  What can you do to protect the marine environment?

Did you know...? | Conservation Tips for the Home & Office | Internships/Volunteering
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Did you know...?

Degradation Times for Marine Debris

•Stash your trash – don’t pollute!  Bring a bag to the beach or when you're picnicking or hiking and make sure your trash goes with you at the end of the day and gets put in a safe place (i.e. a trash bin) at home. •Recycle and reuse whenever you can.  Do you have to throw out that plastic bag or can you reuse it again, such as by carrying your lunch back and forth to work or using it to clean up when walking your dog?  Any amount of trash we can keep out of landfills will help. –Buy items with less packaging –If you know someone who smokes, ask them to put their butts in ashtrays. Many smokers don't think of cigarette butts as litter, but they take several years to decompose! Think about it - just about every where you go these days, you can find cigarette butts on the ground. Wouldn't it be nice to see just clean ground instead? •Go on a beach cleanup or start your own. Find more information on our monthly cleanups and Adopt-a-Beach Program here. Adopt a marine creature or go on a whale watch to learn more about marine life Try to eat environmentally sustainable seafood. Click here for a seafood species scorecard from the Blue Ocean Institute. •Stash your trash – don’t pollute!  Bring a bag to the beach or when you're picnicking or hiking and make sure your trash goes with you at the end of the day and gets put in a safe place (i.e. a trash bin) at home. •Recycle and reuse whenever you can.  Do you have to throw out that plastic bag or can you reuse it again, such as by carrying your lunch back and forth to work or using it to clean up when walking your dog?  Any amount of trash we can keep out of landfills will help. –Buy items with less packaging –If you know someone who smokes, ask them to put their butts in ashtrays. Many smokers don't think of cigarette butts as litter, but they take several years to decompose! Think about it - just about every where you go these days, you can find cigarette butts on the ground. Wouldn't it be nice to see just clean ground instead? •Go on a beach cleanup or start your own. Find more information on our monthly cleanups and Adopt-a-Beach Program here. •Adopt a marine creature or go on a whale watch to learn more about marine life •Stash your trash – don’t pollute!  Bring a bag to the beach or when you're picnicking or hiking and make sure your trash goes with you at the end of the day and gets put in a safe place (i.e. a trash bin) at home. •Recycle and reuse whenever you can.  Do you have to throw out that plastic bag or can you reuse it again, such as by carrying your lunch back and forth to work or using it to clean up when walking your dog?  Any amount of trash we can keep out of landfills will help. –Buy items with less packaging –If you know someone who smokes, ask them to put their butts in ashtrays. Many smokers don't think of cigarette butts as litter, but they take several years to decompose! Think about it - just about every where you go these days, you can find cigarette butts on the ground. Wouldn't it be nice to see just clean ground instead? •Go on a beach cleanup or start your own. Find more information on our monthly cleanups and Adopt-a-Beach Program here. •Adopt a marine creature or go on a whale watch to learn more about marine life

Glass Bottle

 1 million years
Monofilament fishing line 600 years
Plastic bottle 450 years
Aluminum can 80-200 years
Foamed plastic buoy 80 years
Nylon fabric. 30-40 years
Plastic bag 10-20 years
Cigarette butt 1-5 years
Apple core 2 months
Newspaper 6 weeks

Information from U.S. National Park Service & Mote Marine Lab, Sarasota, FL

How can you help the marine environment?

Little actions add up!  There are many small things everyone can do at home - no matter where they live - to help the marine environment. Many of them involve just taking a moment to think about the impacts our actions will have "downstream". The ocean is the ultimate downstream!  Through wind, streams, and rivers, things can end up at the ocean even if the ocean is far away!

  • •Stash your trash – don’t pollute!  Bring a bag to the beach or when you're picnicking or hiking and make sure your trash goes with you at the end of the day and gets put in a safe place (i.e. a trash bin) at home.

  • •Recycle and reuse whenever you can.  Do you have to throw out that plastic bag or can you reuse it again, such as by carrying your lunch back and forth to work or using it to clean up when walking your dog?  Any amount of trash we can keep out of landfills will help.

  • –Buy items with less packaging

  • –If you know someone who smokes, ask them to put their butts in ashtrays. Many smokers don't think of cigarette butts as litter, but they take several years to decompose! Think about it - just about every where you go these days, you can find cigarette butts on the ground. Wouldn't it be nice to see just clean ground instead?

  • •Go on a beach cleanup or start your own. Find more information on our monthly cleanups and Adopt-a-Beach Program here.

  • Adopt a marine creature or go on a whale watch to learn more about marine life

  • Try to eat environmentally sustainable seafood. Click here for a seafood species scorecard from the Blue Ocean Institute.

Volunteering

We're looking for help with a variety of projects, from organizing research data to assembling Adopt-a-Whale packages.  Click here for current opportunities and our volunteer information form.

Internships

Internships are available throughout the year.  Visit our internship page for more information.

Memberships & Adopt-a-Marine Creature

Click here for information on how you can make a donation for marine conservation or learn about marine life through our adoption program.