According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), up to 80% of the world's oceans are unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored. Oceanographers like to put it this way: we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the seafloor (1). This is finally starting to change, thanks to new tools and technologies that make it easier to explore hard-to-reach places like the Mariana Trench.
Over the past few decades, we have learned that our oceans play a much larger and more complex role in the health of our planet than previously thought. For example, we now know that 50-80% of the world's oxygen is produced by microscopic algae called phytoplankton, which drift through the open ocean in vast numbers. We also know that these phytoplankton form the basis of the entire oceanic food web. This means that every marine creature on Earth depends on them in some way, from the smallest zooplankton to the largest blue whales (2).
These kinds of connections are invaluable to us in bringing the global ecosystem back into balance. The same could be true for the body's microbiomes, which we have not yet studied in depth. While we may not find a microbe in our ear microbiome or our lung microbiome that is as universally important as phytoplankton, we will most likely find that these different ecosystems play a crucial role in our health.
And just like with the exploration of the oceans, we now have the technology to explore and characterize more and more of the body's microbiomes with unprecedented accuracy and detail. This means we can go beyond simply identifying the unique microbes that call these places home and begin to unravel the mechanisms they use to interact with our human halves. After all, it's the functions that microbes perform in the body that matter, not their classification or taxonomy. Like our exploration of our planet's understudied ecosystems, our exploration of the lesser-known microbiomes of the human body may very well lead to new insights and interventions that improve (or even save) the lives of millions of people.
CleanHub
All mybacs products are linked to our partner CleanHub. More than 11 million tons of plastic waste enter our oceans every year (that's the equivalent of a truckload per minute). Mismanaged plastic waste on this scale has a massive impact on our climate and our health:
- Open burning of waste has significant climate impacts, equivalent to 2-10% of global CO2 emissions.
- Storing waste in landfills releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
- Microplastics in the ocean hinder the ocean's natural ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
- Plastic kills millions of animals every year. Almost 700 species are directly affected by plastics.
- Tiny plastic particles enter the ocean food chain because marine life mistakenly thinks these fragments are food - and soon end up on our plates.
To prevent further damage, we must ensure that the best methods are used to combat plastic pollution in the regions that suffer most. That is why our new Eco Jar is made from the innovative material Sulapac, making it 100% biodegradable, and at the same time supports a very specific project by CleanHub in a country where plastic pollution is among the worst. The growing population, rapid urbanization, changing consumer behavior and changing lifestyles have led to the incorrect handling of plastic waste and thus to an accumulation of solid household waste in India. (4)
Eco Warrior + Eco Jar = Ocean Care
Mr. Ravi is a fisherman working with collection partner Recity in Pondicherry, India. He started his journey as an Eco-Warrior when he realized he was collecting more plastic than fish in his fishing nets. Concerned not only about his own livelihood but also about marine life in a plastic-rich ocean, Mr. Ravi took matters into his own hands and started collecting plastic from the sea using his specialized boat. Mr. Ravi now has a team of 5 fishermen with a specialized fleet of boats collecting plastic from the seabed and riverbeds in Pondicherry/SE India.
Ocean Ecosystem Facts
- Our ocean covers 70% of the planet and supports life as we know it
- Every second breath we take comes from the sea
- Our ocean feeds billions of people
- Our ocean is home to 80% of the world's biodiversity.
Each of us is also a living, breathing ecosystem, not unlike the planet we call home. With mybacs products, you support not only your own ecosystem every day, but also an ecosystem on our planet.
