Quick recap on the sea star wasting syndrome: sea stars from the coast of Alaska to Southern California were wasting away from this disease. Scientists have no figured out what's causing the epidemic: CLIMATE CHANGE! With warming waters, sea stars are more prone to the disease. Read more about it here:
To help these keystone species, here are more tips you can follow to better the planet:
1. Wash clothes once a week. Put full loads (saving 3,400 gallons a year) in cold water.
2. Clean your lint filter. A dirty lint filter can use 30% more energy to dry your clothes.
3. Use a water-filter pitcher! This saves the earth by reducing the amount of plastic bottles that end up in the oceans and you save the environmental cost of transporting bottled water to the grocer's shelf.
4. Skip red meat once a week. The amount of resources mass-produced beef requires is ridiculous. Livestock consumes 70% of America's grain, further needing more water and other resources to grow those grains. Eat less of it (for the planet and your health), and choose pasture-fed, sustainably raised beef when possible.
5. Change your driving habits. Accelerating, driving fast, and braking hard consumes much more gas than driving smoothly. Save gas money and pollute the air less with more efficient driving methods.
6. Lastly, change your mindset. If it breaks, try to fix it when possible. In a generation where convenience strives, it can be difficult to change our ways. However, we need to now more than ever. So, reuse everything you can. Reuse plastic bags, especially.