Just over three weeks ago, I went on a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; not knowing a small hurricane would be hitting as we got there, keeping us captive inside for two days.

But as soon as the storm passed over, my sister and I took a small walk along the beach, considering we hadn’t gotten the chance to. Like most girls, we looked for seashells and other mysterious things that could have washed up on the beach after the storm. Surprisingly, I came upon more pieces of trash, than I did seashells. We found five seashells, four tires, a car mat, ten water bottles, 20 straws, and at least 50 pieces of just plain plastic. Of the 260 million tons of plastic the world produces each year, about 10 percent ends up in the ocean, and over 100 million animals are killed each year due to that plastic in the ocean.

Over the last several of hundreds of years, the world’s oceans has never been more threatened and more frightful than it is today. With our planet’s own island made of trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, to toxic oil spills, metals, and trash affecting biochemistry, behavior, reproduction, and growth in marine life, it goes back to affect human life. But the crazy thing is that most of the pollution going into the ocean comes from human activities on land.

Although we don’t necessarily mean to trash our ocean, we do it anyway. That’s what’s so crazy about us humans; we’re so caught up in the working world and trying to be successful that we forget to take care of our home. What people don’t see is that even the littlest support can help make a change.

For example, I picked up so much trash while in Cabo, and it felt good to know that in some way, I helped our planet, even if I didn’t do that much. I did something, the one thing I knew how to do: just pick it up and throw it away. There are hundreds of ways for people to save the ocean, and it could be as simple as not using plastic, recycling, or picking up trash, even if it’s not your mess.