Capstone - Land Unites Water

Everyday “Louisiana’s wetlands are being lost at the rate of approximately one football field every 38 minutes” (Louisiana State University). This fact is a reality in my home of South Louisiana, as the disappearance of wetlands can be seen in the marshes that surround my home. Our actions on land affect what happens to our waterways; our waterways eventually flow into the ocean and alter the health of our waters. In the United States there are 190.6 million people who live in counties that are not on the coast. Residents who do not call the shorelines their home should know that what they do on land affects the waterways that lead to the ocean, because the ocean is what provides us with the air we breathe, food we eat and water we drink.

The number one reason that the oceans are having health problems, is due to humans. With 70% of the world being covered by water, these issues of pollution are real. In the United States we produce 2,039 million metric tons of CO2 per year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Plastic is another enemy of the oceans, as its particles are not biodegradable like paper particles can be. Stiv Wilson with the 5 Gyres Institute “estimates there are 315 billion pounds of plastic in the oceans right now” (Reilly). Another issue is the oil that is being drilled for in the Gulf of Mexico. According to industry researchers Wood Mackenzie Ltd, “The Gulf is heading for record deep-water output equivalent to almost 2 million barrels of oil a day in 2020” (Klump). This is an issue not only because of the oil that is being drilled for, but also the pipelines that are being laid on top of the marshes along the coast. The route of the pipes on the marshes speeds up an already eroding marsh that protects the land. With the carbon emissions problems, plastic pollution and oil drilling in the oceans these issues are affecting the conditions of our waters and solutions must be put into place for change to happen. Carbon emissions problems, plastic pollution, and oil drilling in the oceans are issues that are affecting the conditions of our waters and wetlands; solutions must be put into place for change to happen.

The impact we have on our coast and waters are real; on August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina destroyed 15 of my family members homes and businesses in New Orleans and on August 29, 2012 Hurricane Isaac flooded my parents home. The wetlands that stand between our homes and the water act as a buffer from storms along the coast, but when we pollute our waters and allow for the oil corporations to lay their pipes in the middle of the marshes we are ultimately agreeing to fast forward the loss of wetlands. According to the America's Wetland Foundation erosion along the coast will affect “2 million people and a truly unique culture inextricably tied to the land it inhabits” (America’s Wetland Foundation). The risk of wetland loss is real to the United States, as marshes lower the chances of flooding, filter out pollutants in the water and they act as an estuary to fish and wildlife.

Finding solutions to protect the oceans and wetlands is essential to making a change within the waters, but to do this we must first look to the land to make the change we wish to see in the world. Non Profit organizations like the Ocean Conservancy are doing just that. They are fighting for trash-free waterways, by cutting it off at the source, before it reaches the water outlets. Another solution they have implemented, is changing the fishing industry to be more sustainable in its practices across the country. One of the most powerful actions they have devised is engaging with partners in the industries that understand that joining leaders together can generate solutions which support a lively eco-system within the oceans. The course of action the Ocean Conservancy has established throughout their campaign is the type of stewards that the ocean needs for protection and to bring more awareness to the issues.

The use of social media through awareness campaigns has become an essential tool to spreading the word about ocean awareness and our effects that we have on the waterways that surround us. The Ocean Conservancy has used the platforms Facebook and Twitter to help spread the word on changes that are being made within ocean policies. To spark these conversations within their 165,000 followers they use call to action petitions, updates on events like the Deep Horizon Oil Spill status and water related policies that are being changed by communities across the country. Within the environmental ocean protection agencies, The Ocean Conservancy is one of the leaders in sharing information that brings awareness to other ocean advocates.

As changes in the health of our oceans are being made along the coast, we must also look up river towards landlocked communities. Throughout my Capstone project, Land Unites Water, the mission has been to encourage residents of landlocked communities to be aware of and to appreciate the waterways that lead to the oceans. To put this mission into action, I implemented a Facebook awareness campaign and asked 20 friends in 20 states around the country to share the Land Unites Water page with 5 of their friends. From their shares, the page quickly gained 100 Facebook likes within 24 hours.

(Picture: The blue states represents where all 20 people were located in.)

To bring another close connection to the project from the followers of the page, I coordinated a crowdsourced photo album of oceans, rivers, streams and lakes from these connections. The photos that were shared were then used for social media posts that were tied into the fact of the day. All post were easily relatable to the viewer, and a tag of the source was included within every post. By creating a form of connection to the page for the viewers, they have a higher chance of interacting with the Land Unites Water page to help bring more awareness to their community about the problems our waters are facing and the solutions that are being found.

The production company that created the documentary Ocean Frontiers organized a unique way to share their message of bringing awareness of our waterway issues across the country. They reached out to communities on the coast and in the mountains of the United States to show the documentary at community film shows. This sparked a lot of conversation as the documentary was about:

The Dawn of a New Era in Ocean Stewardship takes us on an inspiring voyage to seaports and watersheds across the country—from the busy shipping lanes of Boston Harbor to a small fishing community in the Pacific Northwest; from America’s coral reefs in the Florida Keys to the nation’s premier seafood nursery in the Mississippi Delta. Here we meet an intermingling of unlikely allies, of industrial shippers and whale biologists, pig farmers and wetland ecologists, sport fishers and reef snorkelers and many more, all of them embarking on a new course of cooperation, to sustain the sea and our ocean economies. (Green Fire Productions)

This documentary resonated with a wide audience as the documentary explored all parts of the topic of ocean issues from the farmers in the north, to the fishermen in the south. Part of my capstone project was to coordinate a showing of Ocean Frontiers at The University of Texas at Dallas. The purpose of this event was to educate the UT Dallas campus that what they do on land can affect the waterways that lead to the ocean. Following the show, I invited three Dallas environmental experts, Everett Rusher with the City of Dallas Trinity River Watershed Division; Art Torres with the City of Dallas Water Conservation Division; and Zac Trahan with the Texas Campaign for the Environment. The panelist Rusher and Torres discussed what Dallas is doing to help protect the waters,and what they are doing to educate the communities on water conservation projects throughout the city during droughts. The Texas Campaign for the Environment panelist discussed the plastic and paper bag ban in Dallas county that will go into effect in 2015. Trahan noted that his organization took part in raising awareness of the effects bags have on our environment and why it is important for that ban to be activated across the state of Texas.

Including a discussion panel after the documentary showing with the students and faculty sparked some great questions from the audience relating to the university and the city of Dallas that we live in. Throughout the event, there was a live hashtag feed (#oceanfrontiers) where participants were able to interact with the film. One attendee tweeted the panelist, “Trinity River provides about half of drinking water to Texas” (Marquez). This kind of tweet shows the positive interest the audience had with the conversation. By integrating a digital conversation within the event, it not only gave the viewers the opportunity to interact with the documentary, but it also was another way to share this documentary with their community.

In summary, our oceans would be healthier if the solutions that are being created were implemented and awareness campaigns continued to expand and grow within the platforms that the audience is viewing the message. Alexandra Cousteau said it perfectly, “A sustainable society will only come about through the accumulated actions of billions of individuals, and that's an enormous challenge” (Cousteau). Once an individual learns about the ocean and shares that information with others, they become an ocean steward and take part in making a change within the world.

Works Cited

"U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis." How Much of U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions Are Associated with Electricity Generation? U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA, 23 Aug. 2013. Web. 02 May 2014.

Louisiana State University. "Louisiana’s Wetlands Are Being Lost At The Rate Of One Football Field Every 38 Minutes." ScienceDaily. Web 02 May 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080104112955.htm>

Reilly, Micheal. "How Much Plastic Is in the Ocean? : DNews." Discovery News. Discovery Communications, LLC., 09 July 2010. Web. 02 May 2014.

Klump, Edward. "Wildcatter Hunch Unlocks $1.5 Trillion Oil Offshore U.S." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 May 2014.

"America's Wetland Foundation - Issues." America's Wetland Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.

"About." Ocean Frontiers. Green Fire Productions, Web. 02 May 2014.

Larry Daniel Marquez (somebodyelseat). "Trinity River provides about half of drinking water to Texas. #OceanFrontiers.". 25 Apr 2014, 01:22 UTC. Tweet

Cousteau, Alexandra. "Alexandra Cousteau, Social Environmental Advocate Information."

National Geographic - Explorers Bio. National Geographic, Web. 02 May 2014.