Although cruise ships are generally associated with parties, shrimp cocktails, and luxury accommodation...from an environmental perspective, their claim to fame is staggering pollution. On average, a cruise ship's fuel consumption amounts to 150 tons a day, while belching the equivalent in particulate matter as approximately 1 million automobiles! As they sail along, these cruise ships also devastate our oceans by dumping the raw sewage produced by passengers into the oceans. A 2014 study by non-governmental environmental agency Friends of the Earth estimated that the cruise industry dumps over 1 billion gallons of sewage yearly. Enjoy your shrimp cocktail.
It's all a little weird when you think about it. Most people book a cruise to enjoy the best nature has to offer, and yet they hardly take pause to consider the impact of their little endeavor on the very relaxing environment they have come to enjoy. You would think that people would be more aware in today's information-driven world, and that the scary facts would lead them to steer clear of the industry all together. Quite the contrary, cruises are becoming ever more popular. Mainly because, similar to airfares, lower prices now bring these holidays within the financial reach of the masses.
Which begs the question: if the information is so readily available, why would anyone who is aware of the devastating impact of this kind of tourism on our environment turn a blind eye and go on a cruise anyway? Thomas Gray’s phrase, “Ignorance is Bliss”, comes to mind. However, as applies to so many of life's situations, environmental ignorance is most definitely not bliss. In fact, ignorance is the number one enemy of the environment, and we need to take action and fight it. Sharing knowledge about how our daily behaviors impact the planet is a fundamental step we must take in order to find a solution to the environmental challenges we face. We simply cannot solve a problem if the majority of us do not fully understand what the problem is.
Written by Mike van den Berg