[Jenn-I]

The Baltic Sea is a unique marine ecosystem. Not only is the it home to rich levels of biodiversity and wildlife, but it sustains the livelihoods and economies of millions of people in the 9 coastal countries who also call the region “home”.
A shared responsibility

The Baltic Sea, however, has paid a heavy price from decades of human activity in and around the sea…

* overfishing,
* irresponsible shipping practices,
* industrial exploitation and
* the pressures from agriculture and forestry

…continue to negatively impact its sensitive environment.

As a result, the Baltic Sea is now one of the most threatened marine ecosystems on the planet.

WWF recognizes that we must work together to ensure the sustainable development of the Baltic Sea and that we have a duty to future generations to ensure that we not only commit to, but deliver, decisive action now.

We urge all citizens of the Baltic region to join us in demanding a new approach to ensure that the Baltic Sea will once again be able to support abundant fish stocks, viable populations of marine life and thriving coastal communities.

We all share this responsibility.

Change your daily choices

You can reduce your negative impact on the state of the Baltic Sea by changing your daily choices and consumption patterns. Here are some practical tips to environmentally friendly behavior:

Consumption

* Use biodegradable and non-phosphate detergents.
* Never dump waste water directly into rivers, lakes or the sea.

Food

* Where possible, eat food produced locally. Shorter transportation distances mean less air-borne nitrogen emissions which contribute to eutrophication.
* Reduce your consumption of meat. Meat production produces large amounts of manure, a primary source of nutrients that cause eutrophication in the Baltic Sea. Large amounts of animal products can also raise nitrogen levels in human urine, which puts a strain on the Baltic Sea even after purification.

Waste

* Minimise the amount of waste you create and compost all organic material.
* Don’t dump waste water or rubbish into lakes, rivers or the sea.
* Don’t release waste water from your boat into the sea, empty your boat’s septic tank into the waste water treatment systems in harbours.

Dishwashing

* Don’t release dishwater directly to the water system. Instead, allow the soil to absorb it. If you have running water in your summer house, make sure the waste water treatment system is of the best available technology.
* Use phosphate-free detergents.

Waste water discharge outside municipal wastewater treatment systems

* Install effective waste water treatment systems in your summer house. As summer houses are increasingly evolving from ascetic cottages into round-year leisure residences, water treatment must be carefully considered.
* Replace modern lavatories at your summer house with composting ones. This saves water and energy and more effectively reduces nutrients.

Outside recreation

* Avoid excess cruising on motor boats and jet skis to reduce pollution, noise and emissions of nitrous oxides.
* Don’t make bonfires close to the water where the nutritious ash can get to the water and eutrophicate it.
* Eliminate the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides in your garden as they can end up in water systems.

Managing the shore

* Don’t alter the coast line at your summer cottage. Natural coast lines prevent nutrients from leaking into the water.
* Avoid dredging as it may release nutrients and toxics stored in the sediment and foster eutrophication.

source: WWF

read more at http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/baltic/

[Jenni6277]

Thank you so much for posting this! There has been alot of talk about the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland because they are in really bad shape. Example Russia dumps most of their waste in it and it sucks. Our local WWF does alot of work to study the ecosystem of Baltic Sea and they try to get people to realize the problem.

Unfortunately there are many people who just doesn't care.

[Jenn-I]

Yeah I know. There's a lot of bad things being dumped in there...

*Pregnant women get warnings form the doctor to not to eat anything from the Batlic because it can hurt the fetus.
*Zoo's don't give their animals fish form the water because it contains too much chemicals

WWF with the government working to get the info out there and trying to find a resolution to make it better.

Me and some friends of mine worked with WWF for about three years ago to spread the awareness of the condition of the water.

There's too many countries connected to the Baltic and it's important to work together and try to make it better.

[Helenita]

Change your daily choices

You can reduce your negative impact on the state of the Baltic Sea by changing your daily choices and consumption patterns. Here are some practical tips to environmentally friendly behavior:

Consumption

* Use biodegradable and non-phosphate detergents.
* Never dump waste water directly into rivers, lakes or the sea.

Food

* Where possible, eat food produced locally. Shorter transportation distances mean less air-borne nitrogen emissions which contribute to eutrophication.
* Reduce your consumption of meat. Meat production produces large amounts of manure, a primary source of nutrients that cause eutrophication in the Baltic Sea. Large amounts of animal products can also raise nitrogen levels in human urine, which puts a strain on the Baltic Sea even after purification.

Waste

* Minimise the amount of waste you create and compost all organic material.
* Don’t dump waste water or rubbish into lakes, rivers or the sea.
* Don’t release waste water from your boat into the sea, empty your boat’s septic tank into the waste water treatment systems in harbours.

Dishwashing

* Don’t release dishwater directly to the water system. Instead, allow the soil to absorb it. If you have running water in your summer house, make sure the waste water treatment system is of the best available technology.
* Use phosphate-free detergents.

Waste water discharge outside municipal wastewater treatment systems

* Install effective waste water treatment systems in your summer house. As summer houses are increasingly evolving from ascetic cottages into round-year leisure residences, water treatment must be carefully considered.
* Replace modern lavatories at your summer house with composting ones. This saves water and energy and more effectively reduces nutrients.

Outside recreation

* Avoid excess cruising on motor boats and jet skis to reduce pollution, noise and emissions of nitrous oxides.
* Don’t make bonfires close to the water where the nutritious ash can get to the water and eutrophicate it.
* Eliminate the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides in your garden as they can end up in water systems.

Managing the shore

* Don’t alter the coast line at your summer cottage. Natural coast lines prevent nutrients from leaking into the water.
* Avoid dredging as it may release nutrients and toxics stored in the sediment and foster eutrophication.

I think we should do this for every sea and ocean in the world

[Jenn-I]

I think we should do this for every sea and ocean in the world

I agree...


And thanks ablorg on twitter for tweeting this.

[Jenn-I]

This is a commercial WWF Sweden has going now on TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNR0aijCNVk

at the end it says

"Strange?

It happens everyday in the Baltic Sea"

[Jenni6277]

Baltic Sea underwater:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7au3odTIZg

Marine dead zones caused by eutrophication are a growing problem in the Baltic Sea.
The dead zones occur when algae and other organisms die, sink to the bottom, and are decomposed by bacteria, using the available oxygen.

[Jenn-I]

Baltic Sea underwater:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7au3odTIZg

Marine dead zones caused by eutrophication are a growing problem in the Baltic Sea.
The dead zones occur when algae and other organisms die, sink to the bottom, and are decomposed by bacteria, using the available oxygen.

I can't believe I've been swimming in that ocean more than once.

the WWII effect on the Baltic Sea
http://www.milkas.se/chemical-weapons200610.html

[Oracle at Delphi]

I think we should do this for every sea and ocean in the world

Agreed !
Pity, we know less about the oceans than we do the suface of the Moon.
Random fact : the Hubble telescope has whale oil as lubricant as it does not freeze in space...makes you wonder

[Jenn-I]

Agreed !
Pity, we know less about the oceans than we do the suface of the Moon.
Random fact : the Hubble telescope has whale oil as lubricant as it does not freeze in space...makes you wonder

I agree...

[enjoy_berlin]

I agree...

I also agree. Not to believe that, nevertheless, they do drill for Oil there (e.g. Total).
There is a special research organisation which wants to count the life in the ocean. Very importantly how I find and also extremely full of suspense. Here is the webseite of the project: Census of Marine Life.
Time will show, which miracles the nature still shows us...

[Hague]

This is a commercial WWF Sweden has going now on TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNR0aijCNVk

at the end it says

"Strange?

It happens everyday in the Baltic Sea"

This is good video. Many many people should see that.

I live in lake Finland. My family have a cottage in Miehala lakes beach. I love that place, but I have noticed, there is more alga than before and it has been eutrophicate D: But Miehala is in pretty good condition, because it is so big and away from towns.

But The Baltic sea looks really bad :< does some people say that it never gonna be same again, what it was about 20 years ago?

[Hague]

This is a commercial WWF Sweden has going now on TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNR0aijCNVk

at the end it says

"Strange?

It happens everyday in the Baltic Sea"

This is good video. Many many people should see that.

I live in lake Finland. My family have a cottage in Miehala lakes beach. I love that place, but I have noticed, there is more alga than before and it has been eutrophicate D: But Miehala is in pretty good condition, because it is so big and away from towns.

But The Baltic sea looks really bad :< does some people say that it never gonna be same again, what it was about 20 years ago?

[chuuchuu]

do you think there is still a chance that the world can change now that many people are so selfish and addicted to luxury...

[Jenn-I]

well the biggest crime when it comes to the Baltic is all the industrial that dump their waste into the water. If they found another way to dump it it would make a huge difference to the water.
There's so many countries that's connected to the Baltic and everyone needs to agree to leave it alone.
But guess it's all about money and power. It's probably cheaper for the companies to dump it that to take care of it. Sad to see the socity is all about making the big bucks than to save whats going to be a class thing at the end of the day if it will continue like this.

[madika]

But guess it's all about money and power.

isn't it always?
i mean, pick one industry who chooses more expensive way of getting rid of their dump? they will probably have to higher the prices for their products and consequently all those ppl who dont care won't buy their products because they are expensive or ppl are poor. it would only work if all ppl start to care or if all industries/companies do it the same time (which will probably never happen until law regulates it).


but - thanks for posting! i totally agree, and try to live ecofriendly (which is quite hard in this fusty country).