However, our stay on Libaran Island, where a sustainable turtle conservation project was launched ten years ago, really stood out to us. The shore is washed daily with tons of plastic from the tides, despite the community’s and the project’s significant efforts to clean the beaches and creatively repurpose plastic. It was quite shocking to walk on a carpet of plastic that almost obscured our view of the beach below.

I experienced contrasting feelings of sadness and rage when confronted with this global issue in person, which quickly gave way to determination: to reduce our use of plastic as much as possible. When confronted with significant issues, we may at times feel powerless, but we ought to be aware that even minute adjustments can actually have an impact!