All One Ocean

Fighting Ocean and waterway pollution to secure healthy water for all.

The Problem

We depend upon clean, healthy water for drinking, but also for agriculture and food production, bathing and recreational activities. And yet everywhere, the health of our water is at risk; oceans and waterways are continually polluted by single-use items, above all plastics, leaching toxic chemicals into the water and threatening harm to humans and marine life. If that wasn’t bad enough, when plastics and other types of refuse are not disposed of correctly, they may emit methane gas, a major contributor to climate change.

The Solution

All One Ocean works to educate communities about the destructive impact of litter on our ocean and waterways and provide simple, sustainable, effective ways to protect water resources, combat plastic pollution, and renew and restore habitats and ecosystems. A project of the Earth Island Institute, the organization’s initiatives include educational beach and waterway clean ups and a project-based environmental leadership curriculum for third graders. As All One Ocean’s website states, “By educating our youth, we will create a new generation of environmental leaders who will grow up knowing that there is nothing normal about a plastic-choked Ocean and lead us in changing behaviors, making it possible for everyone to have healthy water.”

All One Ocean is a small, women run, multi-generational organization that has a big impact thanks largely to its focus on grassroots organizing and its dedicated base of volunteers.