You can make a real difference in the fight for the Everglades by getting educated on the real science, voting for candidates who will fix the water, cutting the fertilizer on your lawn, and taking one minute to send a letter to your representatives. On this How 2 Tuesday I brought on Captain Benny Blanco, who fishes the Everglades more than three hundred days a year and treats that ecosystem like home. He laid out four concrete actions anyone can take right now, whether you live in Florida or anywhere else in the country, to help send clean water to Florida Bay and protect the Everglades for the future.
Listen now: press play in the player above, or watch the full How 2 Tuesday on YouTube.
Benny Blanco gave four clear actions. First, get educated on what is actually happening by going to trusted organizations like Captains for Clean Water, the Everglades Foundation, and Bullsugar, which rely on independent science. Second, vote for candidates at every level who are genuinely committed to fixing the water. Third, stop fertilizing your lawn, because everything you put on it goes straight into the aquifer. Fourth, contact your representatives and send a letter through Captains for Clean Water. Those four steps together make a real difference.
Benny made the point that everything you put on your lawn goes directly into the aquifer, and that aquifer is already in trouble. Lawn fertilizer is one of the few pieces of this fight where you take direct, personal ownership of the problem. By cutting back on what you put down, you stop contributing to the nutrient pollution that harms the water, which is something every homeowner can control without waiting on anyone else.
Benny stressed that there is too much bad information online, so you have to go to credible sources. He pointed listeners to captainsforcleanwater.org, evergladesfoundation.org, bullsugar.org, and a host of connected organizations. What sets these apart is that their science is funded by independent research that does not benefit from anything other than fixing the water, so the information you get is grounded in facts rather than someone's agenda.
Yes. Benny was clear that people outside Florida are needed too. Your congressman, your senator, and your local representatives need to hear from you, and you can reach them easily by going to captainsforcleanwater.org and hitting the take action button to send a letter. It takes less than a minute. Those federal representatives will have the chance to vote on the WRDA bill, which affects whether water gets sent to Florida Bay through the planned reservoir.
The WRDA bill, the Water Resources Development Act, is federal legislation that Benny flagged as coming up for a vote. It matters because it ties into approval for a reservoir designed to send water south to Florida Bay, which is central to restoring the natural flow through the Everglades. That is why he urged people across the country to contact their senators and congressman, since those federal votes directly shape whether the water gets where it needs to go.
Benny's advice was to be educated about the politicians you are voting for, in your local races as well as the state race for governor. It is easy to get caught up in a candidate's pitch, so you have to look past it and make sure they are genuinely about fixing the water and helping the environment. He framed the next election as critical, urging people to vote for the candidates who will actually commit to fixing Florida's water.
Here are the four concrete actions Benny laid out that anyone can take right now.
Benny explains the stakes behind each of these actions in the episode. Press play in the player above.
Captain Benny Blanco fishes the Everglades more than three hundred days a year, and he feels like he grew up there. That ecosystem is incredibly close to his heart, and there is nobody better to explain what is at stake and what regular people can do about it. I wanted to give him the floor to turn the Everglades fight into something concrete and actionable, instead of leaving people feeling helpless. Hear how personal this is for him in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Of all four actions, the one that struck me most was the fertilizer, because it is where you actually take ownership at a personal level. The voting and the letter writing are important actions, but Benny pointed out that what you put on your own lawn goes directly into the aquifer that is already dying. That makes it the one piece of this fight that is entirely in your hands, right in your own yard. I talk through why that personal responsibility matters in the episode. Press play in the player above.
It is easy to wonder whether sending a letter or changing your lawn habits actually moves the needle, yet as I said to Benny, if everybody listening took those simple actions, we really could make a big difference together. The power is in the numbers, and the barrier to entry is almost nothing, a minute of your time or a change at the garden store. I get into why these easy actions are worth taking seriously in the episode, so press play in the player above.
What stayed with me after talking to Benny is how easy these actions actually are. None of them require money or expertise, just a little attention and the willingness to follow through.
The Everglades fight can feel overwhelming, but Benny broke it down into four things any of us can do this week. Get educated, vote smart, cut the fertilizer, and send the letter. Take action and press play in the player above.
Captain Benny Blanco · the Everglades · Florida Bay · Captains for Clean Water (captainsforcleanwater.org) · Everglades Foundation · Bullsugar · the WRDA bill · Florida aquifer · clean water reservoir · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Captain Benny Blanco is a professional Everglades fishing guide who spends more than three hundred days a year on the water in that ecosystem. A passionate advocate for clean water and Everglades restoration, he works closely with conservation groups to educate anglers and the public about the fight to send clean water to Florida Bay, which makes him a trusted voice on how people can actually help.
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