How you can make the ocean and beaches a better place for everyone.

- Enjoy Christmas in July! Save your old Christmas tree and contact your local beach or seashore official to see how your tree can be used to help prevent beach erosion due to wind and storms.

- Recycle all your plastic, especially plastic bags and six-pack ring holders. Floating plastic looks like food to many marine mammals, sea turtles and sea birds. They swoop in on this so called “food” and either get stuck in the plastic or eat it, get sick and die. Ask your mom or dad to take recycled cloth bags to the grocery store and buy a new cool looking aluminum water bottle that you can reuse.

- Ride a bike or walk to your friend’s house and turn out the lights in your bedroom when you’re not in it. Pretty corals are being destroyed because their delicate skeletons are harmed by greenhouse gases/emissions that cause a buildup of carbon dioxide-nitrogen-and methane. This build up causes the ocean temperature to rise and causes the coral to turn white and bleaching occurs. The coral die as a result.

- On your next family vacation to a beach resort, while they look pretty, don’t buy necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry that use coral. Obviously the more jewelry that’s made with coral, the more destruction in the ocean community.

- For your next trip to the beach, use the same philosophy that hikers use, “Leave No Trace” or pack in – pack out. Bring your own garbage bag and take your trash home. Even better, pack your lunch and snacks in reusable containers and avoid plastic bags and aluminum foil all together.