Pez Maya. Living in the sand, makes very easy access to cleaning the beach. Every week we go out with our bags and pick up as much garbage as we can for an hour. The fact that we are the only ones staying on this beach and the way we keep track of our own rubbish makes it real easy to see how pollution in one area affects much more than just that particular area.

The way the currents of the ocean work, means that trash and marine debris do not always stay localized. Trash discarded in one area can travel long journeys across land, rivers, and seas to settle somewhere else. This emphasizes the significance of trash minimization not just proper disposal. Because after you throw that straw or plastic bottle in the bin, can you be sure you know where it will end up? The only way you can be sure that disposable cup you used or those plastic knives and forks you ate your take-out with does not end in the rivers, oceans, or the stomach of another animal is to not use them at all.

Seeing rubbish and picking it up in touristy areas kinda makes sense. You feel like you are picking up your own trash. But when you get to some of the most remote areas in the world and see the same rubbish you can not close your eyes to this huge problem that is threatening our planet. It can be hard to see it, going on holiday, staying at resorts where people are paid to clean the beach before you get the chance to see it, But if you look closely around you, it is everywhere. Everywhere it should not be. This is not just a problem in poorer countries or in the slum. It is a problem where you are, right here in everyone's favorite place. The beach will soon no longer be paradise. If we do not decrease our use of plastic drastically.