I have never been a serious environmentalist.
I love our planet and I want it to be healthy and beautiful for a long, long time, but I have never put in a lot of serious effort if it inconveniences myself. I try to dispose of my trash appropriately, not litter, recycle when a center is nearby, reduce my waste (that goes nicely with my search for minimalism), and teach my children to do the same.
When we first came to American Samoa, we heard the beaches tended to be littered. We decided to bring a trash bag with us each time we spent the day at the beach, and use it to pick up the litter before leaving. We have done this a few times, but have become lackadaisical in our commitment to purging the beaches of their trash.
The government of American Samoa has been working to crack down on littering and encouraging beach clean-ups. Because of this, most of the beaches on our beautiful island vary between clean and charming, to breathtaking.
Recently, we stumbled across an area of shoreline that was in dire need of clean-up.
In this instance, words do not seem necessary. You can see for yourself.
In the tree?
Have you heard mention the problems of single use plastics and Styrofoam?
Granted, trash can be the portal to a child’s wonderland.
Or a child’s landmine, with boobie traps lurking under the surface.
Next time you hear someone advocating for cleaning up our oceans, please don’t dismiss it quite so quickly.
Even if your waste isn’t directly ending up in the ocean, it is causing harm somewhere on our Mother Earth.
Obviously, I don’t have the perfect answer of how we, as the collective human race, can stop this from happening, but I plead with you to look inside and ask, “What can I do to help? Can I be a little better?”
I think it’s great that you have taken pictures to raise awareness on litter! For many, litter is a frustration but some would never take pictures of it on holidays or days out and post them because they only want to show the best parts!
All the best and keep up the good work!
Thank you! Most of the time I go try to take pictures in between the garbage, to keep the pictures “pretty”. It was just overwhelming in that spot, that I felt like I had to share it! I think it’s important to find a balance between only showing the good and dwelling on the negative.
That’s true, I think if we just show the negative parts then people will leave the page feeling depressed!
Oh those pictures are so sad! Good on you for trying to help – I hope other pitch in as well, everywhere!
I hope so too! Thanks for reading!
How heartbreaking that such a gorgeous place is being polluted by humans. So glad that you pitched in to make the world a better place to live in. <3
You’re right, it is sad. Most people don’t get the chance to see it like this. Little by little we can work together to keep our world beautiful!
You’re absolutely right! <3
This is so sad and i agree its great that you have taken these picture to share and raise awareness. Also great that you are teaching your kids about environmentalism and keeping our planet clean.
I’ve never taken it very seriously. I try to recycle when it’s convenient and take care to never litter. But walking through this much trash has really opened my eyes. Putting our trash in the garbage is good, but the root of the problem is much greater than that. There needs to be a shift in our wasteful, negligent mentality and slow the rate of making waste in the first place.
It is sad how humans are destroying this beautiful planet. Great that you have taken this initiative, I hope we can make this world a better place for our future generations.
It is sad, especially because of how much beauty humans are capable of.
That is so sad. On another note. I do like how you mentioned that it can be a child’s wonderland. I think as adults we need to keep some of that wonder. That is how we come up with new solutions to these problems.
Yes, good point! It’s a good example of the way kids are so adaptable.
Pictures really do speak louder than words, what an incredible post. I love that you decided to bring trash bags with you when going to the beach, every little step helps. <3
Thank you! Filling a trash bag makes me feel like we’re making a difference, even if a small difference.
I recently looked up the statistics on plastic and the numbers shocked me. 500 years for a piece of plastic to degrade (depending on the type, look up milk jugs those are the worse!). Thank you so much for writing this and shedding light on this situation! Single use plastic is a serious issue and most people don’t realize how serious it is.
People don’t realize because they don’t want to. I know, I’m guilty of turning a blind eye, too! It’s nice to know there are people out there who take an interest, do their research, and ultimately care enough to try to make a difference.
Your post put tears in my eyes. I grew up in the panhandle of Florida. It used to be mostly locals and the beaches were always clean and beautiful. However, it got mentioned in a few travel magazines and now, it’s littered with cigarette buts, cans, and other things people aren’t even allowed to have on the beach – however, it’s nothing like the photos you posted here. Kudos to you for teaching your children the value of cleaning up behind them and making it better than they left it.
The contrast makes it hard to ignore. Most of the beaches in American Samoa are beautiful, with much less trash (most have a little, due to littering and trash washing on shore) but I couldn’t just look past this amount! The kids don’t love having to pick up other people’s trash. It’s a good reminder to them to never leave trash of their own.
What a wonderful way to make a difference. So depressing to see the consistency of people littering on the beach. I hope your efforts catch on and make a difference. Litter is a result of people being too lazy to take the time to throw something away. Ridiculous.
You’re right. It really doesn’t take that much effort to clean up after yourself. You carried it onto the beach, you can carry it back out.
That is such a cool sign. “just leave your foot prints” Some people on these days really lack respect to nature. While nature shows its beauty to us, instead of being thankful, we disrespect it by not practicing proper waste disposal.
So true! I think that’s what kills me most! We all want to see the beauty of nature, the Instagram pictures of beaches and such. We have to work together to be able to keep our Earth beautiful!
Oh, so sad. Such a shame to see this, but the harsh reality is that we all need to see this – to raise awareness. Bless your bringing trash bags along, hun. This post is a great reminder of consequences to mindless action, and how we can “be the change we wish to see” (Ghandi).
I love that quote! And yes, if we don’t ever see pictures like these, it’s really easy to forget that places like this exist.
Oh wow, I never will understand why people think its okay to trash up a beautiful country or town. The places that don’t aren’t covered are so beautiful. I couldn’t trash a place like that.
It is painful to see places on this beautiful island being covered in trash.
It makes me really sad that our world is so polluted. I’m also not sure what the answer is as I often see litter right next to a trash can.
Isn’t that crazy? I think it really does come down to personal responsibility, if individuals don’t care enough to make changes, the way things are will never change.
It hurts my heart to see such trash on otherwise beautiful parts of land that the world has to offer. On a side note I just love that last photo with the sign.
Yes, isn’t the sign great! I want to live my life like that.
Yikes, I wish it could have been much cleaner, but thanks for bringing attention to this! It could be such a beautiful planet if everyone does their part, right?
That’s right, if only everyone would just do their part!
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