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People have historically treated the ocean as a dumping ground for waste, believing that, “dilution is the solution to pollution.” Roughly 80 percent of the world’s wastewater is discharged—untreated or only partially treated—into our lakes, rivers, streams, and the ocean.
Sewage pollution is a significant threat to marine and coastal ecosystems, but, for most communities, “out of sight” means out of mind. As a result, awareness of the problem is limited. Fortunately, sewage pollution is a solvable threat—and addressing this problem can be good for conservation, human health, economic livelihoods, gender equality, and recreation.
The Ocean Sewage Pollution Hub features resources to help both those new to the field and seasoned practitioners better understand the problem of ocean sewage pollution, promising solutions at hand, and opportunities for active engagement.
Explore the threat of ocean sewage pollution and learn how it can be solved within our lifetime.
This section includes an orientation on the threat of sewage pollution, interviews and perspective pieces with thought leaders, country case studies, and insights from leading research studies. We encourage new entrants and seasoned practitioners alike to learn more and explore emerging insights from the field.
- Sewage Pollution is a Solvable Threat: An Interview with Dr. Stephanie Wear
Dr. Wear shares why this issue is relevant to marine conservation, human health, and gender equality. She also discusses how funders can get involved in implementing solutions.
- Sewage In Our Seas: Unmonitored and Unregulated
This report explores ocean sewage pollution through the lens of five country-level case studies focused on Australia, Fiji, Honduras, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
- Sewage Pollution Primer
This primer provides an orientation to sewage pollution and the threats that this largely unmonitored and understudied issue presents to ocean health, human health, and coastal economies and livelihoods.
- Blue Solutions: Seagrass Ecosystems as an Alternative to Built Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure
This digest focuses on a groundbreaking study that identifies ways seagrasses mitigate disease risks for both humans and marine organisms, underscoring how these ecosystems could provide a ‘blue solution’ for sewage pollution.
- Leveraging Behavioral Insights to Solve Our Sewage Pollution Crisis
This guest perspective explores opportunities to leverage behavior change and human-centered design as a tool to accelerate culturally-appropriate solutions for sewage pollution worldwide.
- Sewage Pollution Threatens the Safety of the Global Seafood Supply
This study synopsis indicates that sewage pollution may contaminate downstream food sources from far distances and be more prevalent in seafood than previously realized.
Resource Library
Explore our curated collection of relevant published studies and reports on sewage pollution.
- Where Does River Runoff Matter for Coastal Marine Conservation?
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- Leveraging Multi-Target Strategies to Address Plastic Pollution in the Context of an Already Stressed Ocean
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- Leveraging Multi-Target Strategies to Address Plastic Pollution in the Context of an Already Stressed Ocean: Summary for Decision-Makers
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- Coastal nitrogen pollution: A review of sources and trends globally and regionally
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- Wastewater Pollution on Coral Reefs
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- Battling a Common Enemy: Joining Forces in the Fight against Sewage Pollution
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- Missing the boat: Critical threats to coral reefs are neglected at global scale
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- Sewage pollution: mitigation is key for coral reef stewardship
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This list features teams working on the issue of sewage pollution. All stakeholders (organizations, companies, public agencies, academic institutions, and others) engaged in this field are invited to submit information here to share with the community of practice.
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