I just returned from my seventh trip to The Cayman Islands. When I would go as a kid, I can remember getting in the water to snorkel and it felt as though I was in a huge fish tank with a million fish of every variety swimming around me! Every time we would come in from a snorkel I would make my dad show me a card they have a dive shops that lists all the different types of fish and I would get to learn about all the fish I saw. Unfortunately, almost 10 years after my first trip I cannot describe my snorkeling experience the same way.

On my most recent trip, I can surely say there are a heck of a lot less fish. It is really depressing coming back to this beautiful island every year and see the quality of the coral and the variety of colorful fish both depreciate immensely.

My family goes snorkeling every day, sometimes multiple times a day. Rarely did we ever leave the water without a handful of trash that we collected on our trip. We were happy that we were at least helping clean the ocean, but we were also very disappointed that the trash was in the ocean in the first place.

All of the beaches that we snorkeled at had multiple trash cans so there was no excuse for the trash in the ocean. The ocean is not anybody's trash can. That goes for anywhere outside. No one is privileged enough to not use a trash can. If you have trash in your car, you CAN wait until you get to your destination and you can throw it out there. There is no excuse for throwing it out of your window.

Whether you live close to the ocean or not, please respect our planet. If you can, try to reduce your single plastic use. Use a reusable water bottle and reusable shopping bag. But mostly, just dispose of your trash and plastic properly because the ocean and the world is not your trash can.