Dear Visitors,

Please care for our space as best you can.

1. If you're coming here to shop for groceries or anything else, please bring "green" bags with you. I know that so many areas on the mainland provide sturdy green bags for their customers but they're not readily available down here so bring down any extras that you have and leave them with us. They won't take up much room in your suitcase and, by reducing the millions of plastic bags used by our local supermarkets where baggers double-bag out the ying-yang, you can help.

A local bank got into the whole thing a year or so ago and although it was a grand idea the bags were flimsy, total crap. The best bags I have now are made from recycled bottles and otherwise recycled plastic materials but I got these from a frequent visitor from the mainland and beg more.

2. If you're a smoker we have no problem with that but PLEASE don't either dispose of your butts by throwing them out of your vehicle or tossing them overboard if you're on a sail or grinding them into the sand. Cigarette filters are DEADLY to our wildlife. Filters have an almost finite life where biogradable materials are concerned. The solution is so easy - stub out your cigs, put them into an empty container and then dispose of them properly in either a waste receptacle or a local dumpster.

3. Although it should be a no-brainer but obviously isn't, DON'T STEP ON CORAL! Coral is a living organism and as soon as you tread down on coral with either your snorkeling fins or your bare feet you have immediately destroyed a couple of decades of growth. LOOK but don't touch and don't tromp, please! And if someone yells at you from the shore to NOT step on the coral, best to learn rather than cop an attitude!

4. This shouldn't even be said but don't EVER throw either a beer bottle or any plastic container or a beer or cola can out on the side of the road. You do that in my space and I'll be all over you, so beware!

Visit our islands, enjoy our islands but respect our islands. Cheers!