Photograph courtesy of Colleen Wilkinson, South African Province

It is appropriate that the global community celebrates World Maritime Day during the Season of Creation. “New Technologies for Greener Shipping” is the theme chosen for our engagement this year. The theme reflects the need to support a green transition of the maritime sector into a sustainable future while leaving no one behind. The focus will be on shipping safety, marine security, and the marine environment. There is obvious urgency for the need to build back better and greener in a post pandemic world.

Photograph courtesy of Mary O’Connor, US Region

We can make a difference in our own small way. We know we are stronger when we create together. Have we ever pondered what it would mean to ocean life if we were more thoughtful about how we dispose of garbage? I take as my illustration the dilemma of The Great Pacific Garbage Patch that is a span of debris, most of which is garbage from the United States floating in the northern Pacific Ocean. Eventually, the tiny bits of plastic that make up most of the garbage sink to the bottom of the ocean, making an unsightly heap of trash, none of which is biodegradable. In addition, the food chain is severely impacted by this tragic reality and this is a serious reminder that we need to act responsibly on behalf of all life living in the oceans. The plastic pollution is killing millions of marine life. Marine mammals ingest bits of plastic, consequently starving them because of the damage done to their organs. In his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si,” or Care for our Common Home, Pope Francis warns of the dangers of pollution of the seas which are immensely important in the global ecosystem. The Pope says that throwing plastic into the sea is criminal because it kills many of the earth’s species that depend on sustenance from the sea.

We, as human beings who rule the seas, must help. During the Season of Creation and particularly on World Maritime Day, let us engage each other in serious conversation and figure out a way to make a positive difference. Women can be at the forefront of this movement by leading the way to minimize the dangers that abound in the deep blue of the sea. We can save God’s gift to us – the oceans – by educating ourselves, partnering with others in efforts to make best practices a reality, reducing energy consumption, taking better care of our beaches, training and teaching others at the local and global level, and especially emphasizing support for developing countries.

 Let us keep the use of plastics at a minimum.

We can be at the forefront of the changes needed to save our magical, mysterious, awe inspiring, and powerful resource. We call this resource the oceans of the world.

 

Kathleen Walsh 
US Region