St. John is a wonderful place to live, but let’s be honest, it’s pretty easy to run out of new things to do when you live on such a small island. So one of my family’s afterschool/after-work pastimes is climbing rocks. My son Dalton, who turned five earlier this month, loves challenging himself to see just how high and far he can climb, all under our watchful eye of course.
Dalton and I were climbing rocks over at Klein Bay last week when I noticed a water bottle jammed into the rocks. When I went to pick it up, so I could throw it away, I noticed that the bottle appeared to have Chinese writing, which isn’t something we commonly see around here.
Using the Google Translate app on my phone, I was able to confirm that the bottle was produced in China, which is one of the largest ocean polluters in the world. Whether or not this particular bottle made its way through the ocean from China to St. John remains to be seen.
I don’t know about you, but I found it to be quite interesting to find this bottle. Perhaps it fell off of a cruise ship, which often pass to our south. Maybe it did travel thousands of miles across the world from China to St. John. Who really knows?
Regardless of where this particular bottle originated from, it’s up to all of us to make sure that we do our best to not pollute our oceans. St. John does have a recycling program, thanks to the Island Green Living Association, but it is voluntary. Recycling isn’t required in the US Virgin Islands, which is a darn shame in my opinion. You can find recycling bins at several of our dumpster sites, and you can also find them near Island Green’s Recycle Depot, which is St. John’s thrift store located on Route 104.
I just added Island Green’s Resource Depot to Explore STJ’s Logistics Map, which also includes locations for St. John’s markets, gas stations, dumpsters, free and paid parking lots, and more. You can see it at www.ExploreSTJ.com/LogisticsMap.
I hope you all enjoyed this little story today. And if you happen to see a piece of trash near the ocean, please pick it up. The turtles, fish, and other wildlife will thank you.
Want to see more of St. John & learn from a resident why this place is so great? Please consider taking an island tour with Explore STJ. Explore STJ is rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor, and we received TripAdvisor’s Travellers Choice Award in 2023 and 2022. Full & half days are available. Learn more at www.ExploreSTJ.com/tour.
Nice message, Jenn. Thanks for posting it.
Agree! Keep reminding us Jenn.
Jenn,
Interesting story, thank you for sharing.
Also for reminding all who read this to be a good steward of such a beautiful island.
We own and stay at the Westin and use their recycling bins and try to keep our plastic use to a minimum.
Thanks for sharing Jenn. Plastic pollution worldwide ☹️