Dead Coral

According to Pantone, Living Coral is THE trending color of 2019.

We have seen many retailers integrate this new shade of coral into their product lines, including Puma and Butter London.

As an environmentalist, however, I cannot help but find this color ironic. The name itself is living coral, but in actuality coral reefs’ lives are threatened by climate change, overfishing, unsustainable coastal development, pollution, sedimentation, destructive fishing practices, careless tourism, and coral mining. While the initial goal of Pantone was to promote awareness this year, their efforts seem quite minimal at best.

50% of the Great Barrier Reef is dead. What are we doing to solve this? We, personally, can each make small changes every day (in addition to our current efforts) in order to prevent further damage from occurring.

Living Coral is a beautiful color. It is vibrant and fun. It’s a promising color symbolizing spirit, drive, and hope. However, I’m not seeing these underlying messages properly promoted.

 “Living Coral is naturally exquisite, but ironically, it is the illuminating glow radiating from the dying coral that is demanding our attention,” says Laurie Pressman, vp of the Pantone Color Institute. “It is as if the corals are sending a color-coded SOS that says, ‘Please look at me; I need you to notice before I slip away.’ In that sense, these incredibly vibrant colors could be considered the colors of the climate crisis.”

We have known about this color for a while, but I am disappointed that more retailers haven’t used this opportunity to promote environmental awareness given the multitude of people influenced by Pantone’s forecasts.  

As consumers, we have the power to promote both the Color of the Year and environmental issues through our purchase decisions. Let’s be wise by avoiding purchasing products with chemicals harmful to corals and by only purchasing items packaged in infinitely recyclable materials.