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Despite all the images we see in the media about big factory drain pipes dumping toxins in our waterways, America’s largest source of water pollution actually comes from activity that takes place far removed from our beaches and marinas.

Nonpoint Source Pollution remains the number one contributor to declining water quality across the country.

NPS pollution happens as rainfall, snowmelt, or irrigation water travels across fields, forests, backyards, parking lots, and other land formations on its way to the sea. Along the way, water molecules grab hold of all sorts of pollutants that are lying on the land, sweeping them up and providing a free ride into the closest stream, lake, river, or bay.

NPS pollution is such a big problem because so much of modern activity relies on the use of man made compounds. So much of what we do these days, from fertilizing our crops, to fueling our cars, painting a house, etc… releases these synthetic compounds into the environment.

Look at the puddles you see in any urban environment the next time it rains and chances are you will see a miniature oil slick or something similar. Seen individually these don’t look like much. Taken collectively, however they represent an enormous problem.

The most common NPS pollutants are nutrients and sediments that are stirred up by agricultural activity, construction sites and other earth moving events. Pesticides, pathogens, oil, salt, chemicals, and  heavy metals that come from industrial as well as residential areas also contribute significantly to the problem.

The end result of our national carelessness is that today roughly 40% of America’s recreational waterways are not considered safe enough to swim or fish in anymore.

To fix this problem every citizen needs to think like a raindrop.

If it is possible for rain to mix with toxic compounds more NPS pollution will be created.

If on the other hand, we don’t let this simple bonding occur we can solve the problem.

Don’t top off your gas tank, use tarps when you paint outside to keep coatings from finding their way into the soil, wash your car house, windows, etc… with natural cleansers,  be cautious cutting pressure treated lumber, dispose of batteries properly, watch what you take to the dump, and so on and so on.

Simple things to be sure, but easily accomplished with a second or two of forethought and a bit of common sense.

Removing Paint and Varnish the Green Way.

Anybody who has ever applied a coat of paint or varnish knows that the key to a job well done is meticulous prep work. Before you can expect a new coating to adhere properly you have to clean the surface thoroughly, and in many cases, remove whatever material was previously applied. Of all the dreaded boat maintenance jobs, getting old paint or varnish off ranks up there with the worst.

Traditionally, paint removal has been a messy business. Sandblasters, grinders, heat guns, and heavy duty chemical strippers have been the main tools of choice for getting the job done. Workers in responsible boat yards wear full body suits and heavy duty respirators to keep from poisoning themselves when assigned this task. Workers in not so responsible yards that don’t provide such gear ingest or absorb some of the nastiest types of toxic fumes and particulates imaginable.

In addition to the human problem, the by product of these jobs invariably find their way into the water, floating on a deadly dust cloud or being washed away after it rains.

Most traditional chemical strippers go on like paint an eat away at the old coatings. They work by using such man made wonder compounds as methylene chloride and xlene. In addition to being likely cancer causing agents, these chemicals have been linked to reproductive disorders and all sorts of other major health problems.

While there are more and more laws regulating what can and can’t be legally done to make boatyards cleaner, the simple fact is that traditional methods may get the job done, but at significant cost to the people doing the job and the environment around them.

Next time you need to make your boat all bright and shiny, consider an alternative method of removing your paint and varnish.

Developed in the heartland of America, Franmar Soy Strip and Soy Gel accomplish the same thing traditional paint strippers do, but with a much lower environmental impact. Using modified soybean oils, the engineers at Franmar have spent the past 23 years perfecting a stripping agent that works great, yet allows you to capture and contain all the toxics found in the coatings that are being removed. Soy Strip and Soy Gel is applied with a regular paint brush. As it goes to works the copper, zinc, lead, and other damaging compounds found in most boat paints and varnishes binds to the stripping agent instead of floating off on the wind. A simple scraper, applied after several hours or even a day or two depending on conditions, will remove the previous coating in a safe, effective manner, allowing you to dispose of it properly.

Several recent endorsements of Soy Strip speak volumes for its real world performance. Approved for paint removal in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Soy Strip has enjoyed great success from some of the most demanding shipworkers around. For more details check out this story http://www.franmar.com/portsmouth.html

Practical sailor magazine, the unbiased Consumer Reports of all things boat related, recently conducted a series of real world tests of several bottom paint strippers. The end result was a thumbs up review of Soy Strip. Check out http://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/32_11/features/5344-1.html for the full story.

So next time you need to remove some paint, varnish, urethane, or even epoxy, consider the environment and consider Soy Strip or Soy Gel.

Spending time on the water is meant to be fun and enjoyable. For anybody spending more than a night away from the modern conveniences of land, a big part of the enjoyment comes from being comfortable. Being able to take a swim to cool down is an obvious way to feel good, but what happens when the water’s too cold, or the weather’s not right?

Keeping your body clean is essential if you want to have a good time on the water. Unless you’re lucky enough to cruise on a vessel with huge fresh water tanks, twenty minute hot showers are out of the question for most of us.

Making the most of what you’ve got, however, it is pretty simple to feel human after a few days or more at sea.

If your boat has a pressure water system and can generate hot water, the simple Navy shower drill works great. Turn on the water long enough to get your body when, then shut down the tap, soap up, then rinse. With a little practice, a 2 minute shower can be a lifesaver.

If you don’t have fancy plumbing a portable solar water heater will do the job if you can find some sunshine. Just fill these big flexible bags with water, hang it in the rigging or somewhere suitable and let solar radiation heat your bath water.

The greenest choice you need to make when it comes to body care onboard involves the products you’ll use to get the dirt out.

Organic, plant based soaps and cleansers are the obvious choice. Sure organic costs more, but chemicals just don’t belong on the water if you can help it. We’ve ranted and raved before about the evils of chemical cleaners, so we won’t repeat ourselves in detail here. Just suffice it to say that if you wouldn’t pour it over the side don’t use it to wash your hair.  Even if you drain brown water to a holding tank and pump ashore when you reach the marina, you’re still just moving the nasty stuff from one place to another. Many marina pump-outs connect straight to a septic system with a drain field that lie dangerously close to the water.

In addition to the soaps you use, pay careful attention to all those accessories like conditioners, exfoliators, toothpaste, make-up,etc…  Believe it or not one of the ingredients used in some of the less expensive exfoliating agents are small pieces of plastic. Instead of using oatmeal or some other natural ingredient, some genius came up with the idea of adding tiny plastic beads to help remove dead skin and stuff.

Most toothpastes, especially the big name brands with fluoride, also have all sorts of nasty ingredients. We continue to be amazed that a product meant to be put in your mouth and sloshed around comes with warning labels on the box advising you of the dangers involved with swallowing it. 

Avoid cheap plastic brushes and combs, synthetic washcloths, towels, and other body gear that might go over the side and stay their forever. Use natural fibers towels, wood brushes and combs, along with other high quality implements instead.

When it comes time for the delicacies of feminine care, all sorts of chemical free, natural material options exist these days. Check them out and give them a try.

Remember that the same actions you take to keep your boat clean should apply to how you keep your body clean on the water.

Let’s Get Serious About Punishing Polluters

We recently read with interest a story about a series of fines levied by the EPA against an industrial company that was caught dumping toxic waste into a major river on the East coast of the United States. At first we applauded the enforcement efforts and the penalties that were assessed, until we looked a little deeper into who was being punished and why.

As it turns out, the guilty party had a long and sordid history of this type of behavior. While they have been fined a few times before, there are also numerous allegations brought against them from local fishermen and other residents who have noticed a dramatic decline in the aquatic ecosystem surrounding the factory in question. From all accounts, it looks as though this corporation has been cited for roughly 1 in 20 violations that they were involved in.

Those times they were penalized, to the tune of roughly $100,000, the dollar amount of their fine looks pretty substantial to the average citizen. What most people don’t realize is that the $100,000 the company paid to get rid of their waste illegally was substantially cheaper than the $500,000 it would have cost them to dispose of it properly. Someone within this company decided that they would rather get a few days of bad publicity and pay an insignificant fine than to follow the law by doing the right thing.

How did we get here?

How is it that corporations, who enjoy all the benefits that individual citizens do in this country, have become so irresponsible? Granted there are plenty of good guys out there doing things right. Unfortunately, however, more and more polluters look at the cost of breaking the law as just another business expense, one to be managed and dealt with like any other.  

Something is wrong with a system that has made it less expensive, both in dollars and in the public eye, to harm the planet. Unless policies change, as corporations get bigger and bigger there is no incentive for them to change their ways. As much as we would like to rely on the honor of those occupying board rooms, the current state of affairs makes it clear that too often honor takes a back seat to profitability.

Since the decision to pollute or not usually comes down to dollars, dollars are where any reforms have to begin.

1 – We encourage everyone to contact their legislators and demand changes be made to the enforcement provisions available to the EPA and other regulatory agencies. To start, the fine for any actions leading to pollution entering the ecosystem should be, at a minimum, twice the cost of doing things the right way. In other words, if it costs $500,000 to clean things up properly the penalty for doing it improperly should be $1,000,000.

2- Introduce shame as an enforcement penalty. Instead of sweeping things under the rug with fancy press releases, companies found guilty of willful violation of the law should be required to pay for a full page display in the largest local newspapers, both print and online editions, within 100 miles of where the violation occurred, and within 100 miles of corporate headquarters, explaining what happened and how the company played a part in event. The drafting of this release should be prepared and coordinated by local regulatory agencies and NOT by the offending party.

3 – In an effort to promote positive behavior, offenders that do change their ways should have an equal opportunity, after a specified period of at least 24 months to have their efforts recognized in public with as much fanfare as their violations received. The cost of publishing such a “Good Citizens List” should NOT be assessed to the one time offender, but rather should be a cost borne by recent offenders.  

4 – In keeping with the idea of full disclosure, the names of all individuals found guilty of involvement should also be prominently published in the newspapers within 100 miles of where the offence was committed, and in the local paper, if different, where they live. The idea that your friends and neighbors might learn of your bad behavior is a strong incentive from committing it in the first place. Guilty individuals should be required to pay for all publishing costs either voluntarily or through garnishment.

5 – Introduce provisions to automatically mandate higher insurance premiums for offending parties. Parties found guilty of violations should be forced to pay premiums for at least one year that are at a minimum twice those required by law abiding customers.

6 – Like most aspects of corporate management, offending parties should be required to adopt internal policies that spell out how the company will manage to avoid pollution problems in the future. Citizens committees and regulatory agencies should be allowed to review these plans at least once a year and publish a “grade” or some such measure of performance on a public website.

While these ideas are clearly directed at high profile corporate polluters, there is no reason why similar measures should not be adopted against individuals as well. Until pollution enforcement really hurts the offender, there is no reason to expect society as a whole to change.

Keeping Your Bilge Water Clean

One of the dirtiest places on almost any boat is the bilge. All sorts of nasty stuff manages to find its way down hill into your boat’s lowest interior point.

Water, fuel, oil, transmission fluid, engine coolant, and just about any other liquid you use onboard tends to get here eventually, despite the most meticulous boat owner’s efforts to keep them out.

Hose clamps rattle just a little bit loose, gaskets start to go, and adding a quart of oil while upside down under your cockpit stairs often results in a few drips or more escaping, despite your best laid plans.

Unfortunately, these toxins usually find their way over the side when traditional bilge pumps kick in, pumping both the water they are designed to remove overboard right along with the bad stuff. Until recently boat owners who wanted to prevent this from happening had few options to help them, especially on older vessels that tend to leak more than newer ones.

While it would be nice to believe that every boater is conscientiously keeping an eye on their bilge, cleaning it every chance they get and preventing every toxic drip from happening in the first place, the reality is a different matter, of course.

Most boaters do use bilge socks and other absorbent devices to try and grab some of these toxins, and most of them work just fine, for a while.

Eventually, though, even the highest quality pad becomes saturated and loses its effectiveness. Routine monitoring of when you put a fresh sock down below, and keeping track of how long it is supposed to work, is a practice every responsible boat owner should apply.

But of course, we all get busy, and anyone who hasn’t vacuumed the coils on their refrigerator exactly on schedule is probably guilty of letting a bilge sock set a while longer than it should.

Recently, however, a revolutionary, though quite simple idea, has made pumping your bilge a much cleaner option.

Almost all bilge pumps operate the same, activating on a schedule or being triggered by a float switch when the bilge water level reaches a certain level. 

Once they turn on, your pump simply pushes whatever is in your bilge through a drain hose to a vent or thru-hull valve over the side.

Instead of using this traditional design, it is now easy to install a simple filter system between your pump and the outside water. Much like a fuel or oil filter is designed to remove impurities; bilge pump filters do the same, separating hydrocarbons from bilge water then sending just the water out through the drain.

These systems are simple to install in any out of the way area that works, require few if any moving parts, and only require occasional maintenance when the filter element gets full.

In addition to being the right thing to do, these pumps pay for themselves many times over when you consider the consequences of getting caught pumping oily bilge water.

Fines for dumping contaminants of any kind often run in the thousands of dollars these days in crowded harbors. Enforcement is on the rise, as it should be, to prevent this unnecessary damage from being done to waterways across the land.

So do the Earth a favor and consider installing a simple device to clean up your bilge water.

Comprehensive Ocean Management Plan Finally Happening

The Obama administration recently announced an initiative that is long overdue.

Overshadowed by all the screams and shouts over health care and stimulus plans, in June of this year the president set in motion the creation of a comprehensive ocean management plan to help define the challenges our Ocean environment faces, and hopefully develop sound, long range policies to turn things around.

Like most things political, the devil will most certainly be in the details, but it can only be a step in the right direction that this issue has reached the oval office and found a friendly ear.

Despite how vital our coastal and offshore areas are to the health of our planet, it has been maddening that Ocean policy has been a mish mash of piecemeal policy lacking any central theme, until now.

For the first time in history, the president of the United States has made the health of our Ocean a national priority.

When it comes to Ocean policy, the average American is usually unaware that the town they live in has a more coherent plan for growth and development than Uncle Sam has yet to adopt for the sea around us.

Hopefully, this sad reality will change with what Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the president’s Council on Environmental Quality told the nation will include “a more balanced, productive, and sustainable approach to using. managing and conserving ocean resources.”

Along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, and a few dozen other agencies, a plan is in the works to finally identify the problems we face and develop solutions.

The primary objectives of the Ocean Policy Task Force will be to address

1. Ecosystem-based management as a foundational principle for comprehensive management of the Ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes.
2. Coastal and marine spatial planning to resolve emerging conflicts to ensure that shipping lanes and wind, wave, and oil and gas energy development do not harm fisheries and water quality.

3. Improved coordination of policy development among federal state, tribal, local, and regional managers of Ocean, coasts, and the Great Lakes.
4. Policies that focus on resiliency and adaptation to climate change and ocean acidification.
5. Policies needed to deal with changing arctic conditions.

Conflicting reports on the task forces pending findings and recommendations are, of course, inevitable, along with all the other challenges any political review board faces, but at least a dialog has begun.

You can’t solve a problem until you know what it is and at long last Mother Ocean is getting the attention she deserves.

A Victory For Full Disclosure

Believe it or not, most companies that manufacture cleaning supplies, and similar chemical-based products, are not bound by the laws of the land to disclose the ingredients that make their “wonder” products so wonderful.

In a country where coffee cups now come with disclaimers about the damage their contents can do, this seems incredible

For many folks learning about it for the first time, there is a better word for this lack of oversight – appalling.  

Like so many perplexing problems that seem to defy common sense, the reason for this state of affairs is as American as apple pie.

It’s all about money.

Since the chemical revolution following World War II, the corporations that have whipped up so many of the toxic cleaning products we take for granted have made billions peddling compounds that certainly will make your kitchen counters shine, but what else do they do?

At the risk of repeating previous blog posts, the chemicals in your laundry soap or dishwashing detergent can, and have, caused all sorts of damage to people and the Planet since their introduction.

As any honorable chemist will tell you, the stuff that lifts months of grime off your oven’s interior is capable of doing similar damage to your insides should it find its way into your bloodstream.

While most cleaning products obviously warn us not to consume them directly, they almost all fall short of telling us what is actually in the bottle we keep under our kitchen sink.

Somewhere along the way, the titan’s of cleaning products decided that they would lobby their buddies in Congress to grant them an exemption from having to put their products ingredients on the containers they sold.

The reason for this lack of disclosure is one of corporate America’s lamest excuses ever – trade secrets.

These guys actually got millions of people to believe that if they told us what was in their products, their competitors would rush out and copy the formula, damaging their business and thus denying the world of hormone mimicking shampoos and conditioners.

At first glance, this reasoning might make sense, to a third grader.

At second glance the holes in this deceptive reasoning are big enough to pilot a cargo ship through.

Patent and trademark laws exist in this country to protect innovative ideas and brands from being copied. All the detergent executives need to do to protect their precious poisons is to hire a good lawyer, and believe me, they already have.

The other ridiculous aspect of this “protection” claim is that every chemical company on the planet employs teams of engineers who have the diagnostic tools at their disposal to easily determine what is in their competitor’s laundry soap.

 Just knowing the ingredients, of course, doesn’t guarantee you can copy your rival’s product. You still have to know how and when to combine the ingredients to get the results you want.

However, if Coca-Cola can list their ingredients on each can of soda with fearing imminent doom, why can’t the chemical companies?

Maybe they are afraid that consumers might not want to expose their families to all the nasty stuff that goes into making their whites whiter or whatever it is they claim?

Luckily, the tide appears to be shifting in this decades old policy of deception.

Several high profile companies, including the SC Johnson company, Clorox, and others have recently taken some baby steps towards full disclosure by listing some of their product’s contents online.

Whether this is a preemptive step taken on the advice of their lawyers – “We told the world what was in this stuff, see our website” – or a genuine move in the right direction, it needs to go further, PUT IT ON THE BOTTLE!

At greenboatstuff we only carry cleaning products that tell us, and our customers, what they contain. They work great, and you know what they are. How easy is that?

We know organic soap and some of the other stuff we carry isn’t for everybody, but for folks who want to keep using chemical cleansers, we encourage you to demand more from your detergent or shampoo maker.

Tell them, in no uncertain terms to get with the program and PUT IT ON THE BOTTLE.

One More Reason to Avoid Plastic

For those of you who do not know how much plastic is accumulating in our Ocean, please check out the following story http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090804/us_nm/us_ocean_plastics

Disposable plastic has become such an accepted part of modern living that most people don’t give it a second thought. 

For those people who are trying to decide why they should care about tossing a plastic water bottle aside, consider this – the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is a collection of floating plastic debris about the size of Texas and growing.

One idea to solve this problem would be to redirect Hawaiian bound cruise ship traffic through the Patch for a month or so and see what kind of outcry would result.

Wishful thinking I know, but awareness is the first step in resolving environmental issues.

Green Inspiration

Make no mistake, being green is gaining ground.

New stories are emerging every day about concerned citizens who have had enough of the way things used to be and are demanding changes.

Awareness is rising, inspired by everyday people doing extraordinary things to point out the serious environmental challenges our Planet faces.

We were recently introduced to a dedicated young woman who is literally going the extra mile to help address one of the growing problems of our time – access to safe drinking water.

This December, Katie Spotz is embarking on the adventure of a lifetime – a solo row across the Atlantic Ocean.

The 2,500 mile journey will begin in Senegal, West Africa and finish in French Guiana, South America.

After 70-100 days at sea, Katie will become the youngest person and the first American ever to row an ocean solo from mainland to mainland. 

Katie has partnered with the Blue Planet Run Foundation, whose mission is to help the billion people around the world in need of life’s basic necessities.

We applaud everyone who does their part to help make things better out there, but Katie’s story goes so far above and beyond what most people do that we felt compelled to bring it to everyone’s attention.

Spending a Saturday afternoon cleaning up a local beach is a great way to contribute, but rowing across an Ocean is in a class all by itself.

We encourage everyone to take a look at Katie’s website, www.rowforwater.com and consider making a donation to support her journey.

At greenboatstuff we are honored to know that some of our products will be accompanying Katie on her voyage, hopefully making her adventure a little more comfortable.

While we believe any support of an environmental cause is a good thing, there is something special about knowing that, in an indirect way, you are actually in the same boat with someone as inspiring as Katie Spotz.

What You Don’t Know About Your Sunscreen CAN Hurt You

As much as we all love a sunny day on the water, our skin can only handle so much exposure to the big bright circle in the sky. Life-giving sunshine can cause serious damage to our delicate bodies if we’re not careful. Overexposure to ultraviolet rays can cause problems as minor as dry skin and sunburn, or as major as skin cancer.

Studies abound with some pretty scary details about the harm that can be caused by too much sun. As a result, an entire industry has sprung up in recent decades promoting products that are supposed to protect us when we venture outdoors.

Many of the common sense ideas do a great job keep us safe. Grab a wide brimmed hat, wear long sleeves or a cover-up, limit your time outside, grab some shade when you can, etc…

For those folks who prefer a tank top and shorts, or, one of mankind’s’ greatest inventions – the bikini - the market has a solution for you too – sunscreen.

Slap this wonder product on your exposed skin, spread it around, and voila, you are safe from all that UV radiation.

Unfortunately, most sunscreen is brought to you by the major chemical companies who are responsible for creating some of the nastiest toxins out there.

Mounting evidence is showing that your typical, grab-some-on-the-way-to-the-beach sunscreen might be doing as much damage to your body, if not more, than the sun is.

Consider this, according to an article written by Rebecca Sutton for the Environmental Working Group, a “March, 2008 study by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) revealed that 97% of Americans are contaminated with a widely-used sunscreen ingredient called oxybenzone that has been linked to allergies, hormone disruption, and cell damage. A companion study published just one day earlier revealed that this chemical is linked to low birth weight in baby girls whose mothers are exposed during pregnancy. Oxybenzone is also a penetration enhancer, a chemical that helps other chemicals penetrate the skin.

Environmental Working Group identified nearly 600 sunscreens sold in the U.S. that contain oxybenzone, including products by Hawaiian Tropic, Coppertone, and Banana Boat (see the full list of 588 sunscreens here) as well as 172 facial moisturizers, 111 lip balms, and 81 different types of lipstick.”

In addition to oxybenzone, all sorts of awful stuff can be found in most of the sunscreens you’ll find in your grocery store or big-box retailer.  Octyl methoxycinnamate, psoralen, p-aminobenzoic acid, ethylhexyl salicylate, menthyl anthranilate, butyl-methyoxydibenzoylmethane, and all sorts of other scary sounding and truly toxic ingredients are common ingredients in this stuff that is supposed to “protect” us.

Considering that most medical research suggests that up to 1/3 of the sunscreen we apply is absorbed through the skin, it is frightening to think what this stuff could be doing to our bodies.

Hormone disruption, allergy problems, reproductive system damage, the creation of free radical reactions, an increased risk of birth defects, cellular damage and DNA disruption are just some of the things that can happen from exposure to this stuff.

To add insult to injury, the US Food and Drug Administration requires hardly any testing from the chemical peddlers who are pushing this stuff!

Just as they have with cleaning products and so many chemical compounds, big business has lobbied successfully to keep consumers in the dark when it comes time to disclose what their products contain and what they might do to our body.

Worst of all, what is it doing to our kids?

Worldwide, the greatest rise in skin cancer has been experienced in countries where chemical sunscreens have been heavily promoted, primarily the United States and Australia. A study several years ago in Queensland Australia, where the medical establishment has aggressively promoted the use of sunscreens for years, revealed more incidences of melanoma per capita than any other place on Earth. Recent research in the USA suggests California is closing the gap.

So what are we to do the next time the sun is shining and the water calls?

For sure, sun protection garments are a great beginning. On a hot summer day though, getting in the water or soaking up a few rays is just part of the deal for most boaters.

In addition to common sense, why not try some non-toxic sunscreen? Like most problems that need solving, Mother Nature has created a host of ingredients that do the job without all the harm. Naturally occurring plant and mineral compounds such as Coconut Oil, Green Tea Extract, Shea Butter, Titanium Oxide, and Zinc Oxide, do a great job of protecting us from the sun without damaging our DNA.

A growing number of non-toxic sunscreens are on the market today. At www.greenboatstuff.com we carry several.

Just like we have advocated with cleaning products, one of the keys to determining if the sunscreen you choose is good or bad is to look at the label. Plant and mineral ingredients are usually safe to consider. Avoid products with ingredient lists that sound too much like a chemistry set.

And of course, use the Internet to check this stuff out on your own. If your reading our blog you’re just a Google search away from seeing the evidence for yourself first hand.

After you take care of yourself and your loved ones, please consider the effects toxic sunscreens are having on the environment.

It might sound silly to think that a glob or two of sunscreen could cause significant harm to something as massive as the Ocean, but think again. Anybody who has spent time in Coastal Mexico or the Caribbean in the past few years has probably come across a new policy at many of the most popular swimming and snorkeling spots.

On a recent trip to a beautiful lagoon near Tulum, Mexico, we were forbidden from using any sunscreen other than those specifically labeled “biodegradable.” Security guards actually confiscated people’s chemical sunscreen, forcing folks to go without or spend big money on a tiny bottle of the good stuff in the gift shop.

I love Mexico, but it is one of the last places I would expect to encounter the long arm of the law over my sunblock. The reason the rules were enforced, though, is simple. This gorgeous swimming hole, which is a big money maker for the locals, is dying.

Years of Coppertone and Banana Boat mixing with sea water have done incredible damage. In addition to the problems caused at the microscopic level by these poisons, the physical characteristics of the chemical sunscreens have taken their toll too. The ingredients in most plant and mineral based sunscreens are broken down and flushed from the aquatic system much easier than the synthetic compounds found in traditional sunscreen. The chemical stuff often lingers in the ecosystem, blanketing plants and animals with a stubborn, slimy film that inhibits growth and disrupts the natural way of things. Sheltered coastal areas that are not regularly swept by the full power of the Sea are especially vulnerable.

On a final note, consider the overall impact that the creation of these chemical compounds has on the Planet as a whole. An industrial complex far removed from the tropics is the likely source of the toxic ingredients found in the average tube of sunscreen. Now picture the manufacturing process itself, with all the toxic byproducts created and somehow disposed of, either properly or just as likely, flushed down a drain.

Once again, mankind’s quest for a solution to one problem has led to unintended, yet still serious, consequences for the Earth and it’s many inhabitants. So often the challenges we face in dealing with the messes we have made seem overwhelming for the average person. We ask ourselves, “What can one person do, how can I make a difference?”

Next time the sun comes out do something simple that can make a difference. Use your common sense, grab a hat, and replace your toxic sunscreen with the good stuff.