Sitting on a beach in a far flung part of the world my daughter, who was four at the time, asked me why there was so much rubbish in the water. I felt terrible on so many levels. I've been lucky enough to travel a lot in my life and I’ve seen the impact of plastic pollution in our oceans. It's nothing new but when it's recognised at such a young age it really hammers home what we are doing to our planet.
I like watersports and many of the clubs and people who practice in the oceans do a beach walk at the end of the day and have a clean up. It got me thinking that for tourists maybe we should impose a weight of plastic that you need to collect before you get your visa stamp to exit the country! Maybe not practical to implement but the important thing is we all need to contribute a little to make a difference. Plastic is just one contributor, it's the visible one that makes us feel sick to the stomach when we see the impact. What about the invisible ones?
Two other things hit me that day. On the same beach, I could see a container ship in the distance billowing out spoke from its funnels. It was massive. Some of these ships are as long as six or seven football pitches and are stacked 10 containers high. Fuel consumption by these ships are mostly a function of ship size and cruising speed but a medium size one, 8000 TEU (the bigger ones can three times that ) can burn 225 tons of fuel per day.
If you think diesel is a dirty fuel, and it is, think again. These behemoths run on something called bunker fuel. After you've refined all the jet fuel, gasoline and diesel what's left to extract is a heavy, thick product called fuel oil aka bunker fuel. It's sulphur heavy and highly polluting. Some of the biggest shipping container companies have in the world have committed plans to zero emissions by 2050 but this is a long way off as are green alternative fuels for these ships.
What has this got to do with your day at the beach? Well, the rashvest, swimsuit or bikini that you are wearing on the beach likely has a "Made in" tag in the back. What if we reduced that mileage by sourcing local products, the EU at a minimum. The impact of fashion miles is shocking. You might get a cheaper product but for a little bit more maybe we can get a more sustainable product and reduce some load on the environment.
The other thing that hit me that day was the backpack full of suncream we had for the 3 of us. Different SPF levels for our skin types, cream that will resist the water to allow us to enjoy the beach and not damage our skin. With the rules regarding liquids passing through airport security it often becomes a purchase at your destination which doesn't give you much a choice regarding price and variety, and for a family this can be a significant outlay for a good quality sun barrier. Is there a better option ? How about wearing long sleeved swimsuits that cover us up more, are light-weight, look stylish and leave the cream solely for the extremities of our bodies and mainly our face?
This is before we even consider the environmental impact of suncream. That sun cream that you liberally spread all over your body is likely to get washed into the ocean or showered off into the local drainage system. If you use an aerosol it's even worse, the overspray ends up in the sand and washed into the sea and the waste is significantly more than cream. Oxybenzone is a common chemical used in sunscreen. It's well known and researched that these chemicals are damaging to coral and can lead to something known as coral bleaching. Tourist destinations such as Hawaii and Palau have already banned the sale of creams containing these chemicals that are damaging to their eco-systems.
The Republic of Palau, an archipelago of more than 500 islands in the Pacific Ocean, has banned sunscreen chemicals in order to save its precious coral reefs and their stunning UNESCO World Heritage site: a magnificent lagoon in Palau's Rock Islands.
So from now on, this new law will prohibit the sale and use of all sun products that contain the following harmful ingredients:
Oxybenzone
Octinoxate
Octocrylene
4-methyl-benzylidene camphor
Triclosan
Phenoxyethanol
Ethyl paraben
Butyl paraben
Methyl paraben
Benzyl paraben
Similarly, Hawaii has become the first US state to pass a bill that will ban the sale of sunscreens that contain oxybenzone and octinoxate, known to harm coral reefs and ocean life. The bill, signed in July 2019 by Governor David Ige, will take effect in 2021. It will prohibit the sale of all over the counter sunscreens containing these two chemicals that contribute to the destruction of coral reefs and other ocean life.
Although the ban won’t be applied to prescribed sun creams or makeup containing octinoxate or oxybenzone, it’s a huge step towards ocean sustainability and a victory for all ocean life crusaders.
Bonaire, a municipality of the Netherlands, located just off the coast of Venezuela, is a popular tourist destination for snorkeling and scuba diving. It’s a real paradise, and every island's council member is committed to protecting it. In May 2019 they voted to ban oxybenzone and octinoxate, and the sale of sunscreens that contain these chemicals will be outlawed, effective in January 2021.
Key West in Florida is home to the largest coral reef in continental US, and just like Hawaii, they will ban all non-biodegradable sun creams. From 2021, stores in Key West won’t be able to sell sunscreens that contain the reef damaging ingredients.
The U.S. Virgin Islands have announced a ban on chemical sunscreens that are harmful to coral reefs, prohibiting the sales of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. The bill was signed in July 2019, and it will come into effect in March this year.
If we reduce the skin exposure to the extremities and face, we can reduce the amount of cream used dramatically. Long sleeve swimsuits protect your back, arms, shoulders and torso, the areas that require a lot of coverage with creams. Think about a few hours snorkeling in the sea, you are face down in the water with so much skin exposed. A high quality SPF garment is perfect for this and many other water pursuits.
In this era of Instagram and selfies, looking good and showing a lot of skin has become way too important. People like to look good at the beach and have that sense of freedom that comes with wearing light un-restrictive clothing to maximise your enjoyment of the environment. BUT, covering up and looking good don't have to be mutually exclusive, it's a cultural thing in the same way that until 10 years ago most people would ski without a helmet. We should expect the same from our beachwear. Surfers have been wearing rashvests for years, they offer sun and rash protection from skin rubbing up against the board if worn alone or against the wetsuit if worn in combination. Over a bikini or board shorts they'll offer sun protection as well. Good quality material will wick away moisture quickly as well giving you a multipurpose garment.
These are great for the purpose they were designed for but maybe we can extend the appeal of the garment by making it less focused to a single sport. Broaden the appeal, make it stylish, versatile to attract more people to cover up and look good at the same time and use long sleeve swimwear to reduce environmental impact, promote sustainability, help out oceans, protect ourselves and ultimately enjoy the beautiful environment around us.
Let’s hope that Palau, Hawaii, Bonaire, Key West and the US Virgin Islands are just the first places out of a very long list of destinations where governments have realised that harmful chemicals must be banned in order to protect our oceans.