Being a resident here in New York City for a month now has taught me many things, one being that the subway is a pretty disgusting experience 95% of the time. The underground aspect, in general, is scary to me, and the carts are dirty, and almost always seem infested with disease. Not to forget that the subway is also a pretty penny if you’re a resident in New York City, and could cost you over $150 a month in expenses. We all have these feelings about the subway, don’t we?

As well as the not-so-presentable appearance of the subway, delays are daily, and carts tend to have many malfunctions during the weeks. Ultimately, many subway carts are put out of service and sent away from New York City.

The question is, where do they go from here?

Interestingly enough, the subway cars are not demolished, broken down, or just thrown into the dumpsters. Subway cars are shipped out to the middle of the ocean and dropped directly into the water.

OK, I know that sounds bad, but hear me out.

Initially, after seeing this information, I was stunned and appalled that our government would have the audacity to throw such disgusting contraptions into our beautiful oceans. However, turns out, the subway cars are actually helping ocean life.

Yes, this is correct. By dropping subway cars into the water, eventually and under five years, the compartments turn into vast ecosystems. As the subways sit at the bottom of the oceans, the pipes and elements in the cart are perfect for growing coral and other essential plants of the ocean for fish to have places to colonize. Therefore, by giving back, we are restoring reefs and ecosystems that humans had previously destroyed by utilizing the resources that are no longer essential for New York City. Pretty cool, huh?

That said, this is a perfect example of the absolute possibility of taking care of our oceans, and being able to give back since we’ve destroyed so much by now. Our oceans are being restored somehow - maybe in strange ways, but somehow. It was a wonderful discovery to find that something as simple as a subway cart could create such vast opportunities for ocean life. Hopefully, in the future, such opportunities will expand, and we’ll learn to utilize even more resources to help our environment, that otherwise would have been wasted.