For the greater portion of my junior year of college I had the pleasure and the privilege to study in Thailand at The International Sustainable Development Studies Institute. One of my courses was Island Environments and Cultures in the Adang Archipelago National Marine Park in the AndamanSea, Southwest Thailand. The area is a breeding ground essential to the conservation of the biodiversity of Southeast Asian seas and for the sustainability of regional fisheries. The area has also become a hot spot for Lonely Planet, backpacker-type travelers that are flocking to the area for its bungalow style resorts as an alternative to Phuket’s over-crowded beaches and high-rise hotel style.

One of the most difficult tasks of the trip was to remember my role as a leave-no-trace researcher and student all while my classroom was a white sand beach and my bed was a hammock strung between two coconut trees — paradise. One thing I saw while on the islands, more than once, was one of the immediate effects of tourists on these strained islands. There was a commotion from the instructors and my classmates and a din of people in a semi-circle around something on the beach being illuminated by head-lamps. As I got closer to the object I was completely confused. Crawling across the beach was a plastic cold cream container? At closer look, I realized that this piece or trash was the home of one of the island’s many hermit crabs. It turns out, as my instructor explained, that hermit crabs’ shells don’t grow, so the crabs move out when their shell has gotten too small. So, why the cold cream container? When tourists scour the beach for treasures, such as the coveted large, undamaged conch-style shell, they are leaving many of the locals homeless.

Over my time on the beaches I also saw other pieces of plastic bottles, including the top of a 20 oz. Pepsi bottle as a makeshift home. Not only are hermit crabs not meant to live in our irresponsibly discarded trash, they are unable to retreat into the containers when in danger. I was overwhelmed with feelings of despair and guilt, I too have a collection of shells and coral from my morning beach walk treasure hunts. Everything in the ocean is part of a greater whole, and there is an absence felt when we take it home as a souvenir.

So, have I given up my ritual of sunrise/sunset walks on the beach and treasure hunts? Absolutely not. Now when I walk the beach, I collect beach glass, parts of broken glass bottles that humans have dumped into the ocean. Because it isn’t an original product of the ocean, collecting it won’t upset the ocean’s delicate ecosystem, and it looks beautiful displayed in glass jars or as a part of a mosaic. Rubbed down bricks are also a great find. Or, maybe a game to play with your kids could be picking up shells and litter that could potentially kill the ocean’s wildlife. At the end of the walk, give the shells back to the ocean and take the litter back to a receptacle where it can be disposed of properly.